The Woes Of NDC Deepens In Wa East 

It is not enough to weep over the current status of organisation and popularity of NDC in the Wa East constituency.

 It is characterised by acrimony, vendetta and schism orchestrated by a clinch of a few constituency executives around the MP Hon. Dr. Godfred Seidu Jasaw.

In retrospect, until 2001 the  NDC win  both parliamentary and presidential elections in the constituency with Hon. Issahaku Salia, his margins of victory fell from 77% to 43% when Hon. Godfred Bayon Tangu of NPP defeated him , this was the period the NPP gained striking inroads. 

The appointment of Hon.Tangu as Wa District DCE   projected a wide fortune for NPP, many of the constituents who were PNC and NDC members joined the NPP because Honorable Tangu was accessible, humble and responsive to the needs of the constituents. 

He has won 3 conservative elections with a margin of 43% of the votes until he lost to the Honorable Ameen Salifu, a then DCE of Wa East District.

 He rode on the back of a massive change in educational and health infrastructure, access to clean water and electricity. 

The coverage of basic needs like health, water and electricity within the constituency was phenomenal in the political annals of the district. 

He increases the NDC margin from 43% to 55% in 2012 to take the seat from the NPP in 2012 elections and served as one term in Parliament.

The skirt and blouse

In 2011, the NDC had an acrimonious constituency conference to elect a parliamentary candidate for the 2012 elections.

 It was a close contest between the then DCE Ameen Salifu, the former assembly member of Bulenga  and a  presiding member of the Wa East District Assembly, and a former NDC- TEIN president Ahmed Mankama Jackoni. 

The nemesis of that election was a faction led by Hon. Saani to revenge the manipulation of the election process.

 This group embarked in an outdoor campaign and persuaded their followers to vote against the NDC parliamentary candidate Hon.Ameen Salifu, but he won.

It was the beginning of "skirt and blouse voting in NDC, and the first time in the constituency. 

The nemesis was the NDC lost its grip on popularity of the constituency, election victories began to swings between the NDC and NPP.  

And, this group remained a standing force and anti-Ameen Salifu in every sense of party internal organisation.

They formed the nucleus of the campaign of Hon. Seidu Daannaa, a former minister of chieftaincy; he did not have any contact with the party at the constituency level. 

However, he came ridding on the back of then president John Mahama, he had the regional executives support. His good will as the cash man was rated the highest in the region. 

Hon.Daanaa defeated Ameen Salifu at the NDC primaries, his victory was orchestrated with a deliberate manipulation of voters register and intrusion by members of the opposition NPP.  Their agenda was to help NDC elect the weakest candidate to enable NPP take the seat.

Ultimately, Hon. Tangu had a dire financial problem but understand the nitty-gritty of the constituency better the Hon. Daannaa. He obtained the seat for the NPP in 2016 general elections.

The return of Ameen Salifu in 2019 presented a bad signal to NPP; Tangu lost the NPP primaries to his longtime rival, Yakubu Salifu (Tea-taba). In the NDC elections, Ameen lost to a neophyte Hon. Dr. Godfred Seidu Jasaw.

The aura of victory around Dr. Jasaw grew brighter apparently due to the clamour of a seeming unity and support he enjoyed from Ameen sailfu and Dr. Henry Seidu Daanaa.

The influence of John Mahama

It was a potent dosage to use John Mahama's name   to win elections against Ameen Salifu in Wa East Constituency. 

The public endorsement of Dr. Henry Seidu Daanaa at WasecTec over Ameen Salifu propelled the victory of a candidate who obviously was not going to win the seat was a suicide for NDC.

To reinvent the woes of Ameen Salifu at the 2019 NDC parliamentary primary was not difficult. Dr. Seidu Jasaw emerged as the best bet of Former president John Mahama. He made mouthwatering promises to individuals of the group and financed the anti-Ameen group to win the constituency executive positions.  They demonstrated their allegiance by publicly taken part in his campaign activities. He won the primaries with a close margin.

The Woes go deep

Dr Jasaw is unable to manage the egos and confusion surrounding his victory. He has since fell off in relationship with most of those who helped him to win the parliamentary primaries.

His favorites among the constituency executives have formed a clinch and are exacting vendetta, arrogance and bullying persons they perceived to resist their control. There is a deep crack emanating from the power struggle within the pro-Jasaw.

A breakaway faction lead by the former youth Organiser and campaign spokesperson of Dr. Jasaw 2019 primaries have already mobilized their asenals   towards the constituency conference in 2022.

It is spelling doom for Dr Jasaw and a   re-invention of the wheels of defeat to NDC in 2024.

In a desperate attempt to retain their executive positions, they are tempering with the party registration process of new members.

The constituency executives are on record to have taken steps to manipulate the voter registers of selected branches in efforts to expunge the names of certain individuals who are branch executives to disenfranchise them before the next constituency conference.

The level of grumbling among parties people deepens across the constituency; this potentially will create apathy within the party. 

It is on record that about 5 branch executive members have been suspended from the party who are known affiliates to the breakaway faction of Dr Jasaw or Pro- Ameen Salifu. The reasons for their suspension are flimsy and untenable. 

This has been the rule of thumb ever since   they assume office in..........

It must be noted that, if immediate measures are not taken to restore public trust and conciliation within the party, NDC will lose the seat miserably to the NPP arising from the unaddressed divisions and factionalism in NDC.

To buttress this assertion, between late March and early April, 2022, the Constituency Executives were in the constituency distributing NDC Membership Cards to Branch Executive which according to them, were procured and paid for by the MP Dr. Jasaw purposely for the Branch Executive.

At some Branches, Executives who are perceived to be non-alliances to Dr. Jasaw suffered the humiliation in public. They were denied with the membership cards and ostracized in the full glare of other branch members.

The sad reality is that these issues have been reported to the Regional  Executive Committee , but, they faked to investigate or put to check the abuse and manipulations that are carried out against legitimate members if the party in the Wa East constituency.

The leadership of the party must know that the Wa East is a swing constituency and NDC is always the victim of defeat.