Drama At Baba Yara: NDC Walks Out As NPP Conference Delays

By Dominic Duut | Noblenews

A delegation of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has walked out of the ongoing National Delegates Conference of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) over what it described as poor organisation and undue delay in the start of the programme.

The delegation, led by the Deputy National Women Organiser, Ms Dzifa Tsegah, said it arrived at the conference grounds at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi at 9:30 a.m. for a programme scheduled to start at 9:00 a.m., but as of 2:00 p.m., the event had yet to commence.

Speaking to the media, Ms Tsegah expressed frustration over what she described as a lack of communication and coordination from the organisers.

“We were here at half past nine because we were very sure that the NPP would not be ready at nine, but we were thinking that between nine and nine-thirty, it would have started.

Currently, it is almost 2 p.m., and we have been waiting, and it does not even look like they are ready,” she said.

According to her, the flyer for the conference indicated that the programme should have ended by 1:00 p.m., yet voting had not even started hours after that time.

“We are here to give our solidarity message. We have a lot of things to do… Nobody knows what is going on. There is no central point of communication.

We have not been informed about exactly what time they will be starting and what time the various political parties will be giving their solidarity messages. I don’t think we can be waiting indefinitely. It is not fair,” she lamented.

Ms Tsegah said the disorganisation was indicative of deeper challenges within the NPP as an opposition party, but added that the NDC still wished them well.

“I really hope this election will pull the best out of them because we need a strong opposition to make sure democracy is alive and on its toes,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Acting National Chairman of the NPP, Danquah Smith Buttey, has attributed the delay to the late arrival of delegates.

“We are waiting for the delegates. They are not here. So, if 1/3 of them comes then we start,” he told journalists at the venue, adding that he could not tell why delegates were still at their various locations.

A total of 7,163 delegates are expected to participate in the conference to elect national officers and consider constitutional amendments.