In 2007, the NPP conducted Presidential Primaries with 2,285 out of an estimated 2,326 delegates, voting to elect the flag bearer. The party administration at that time, later felt the need to expand the Electoral College, because of the perception that such a number of people can be bought by any aspirant who is loaded with cash to spray about.
In 2007, the Electoral College was made up of ten delegates from each constituency that came up to 2,300, considering the 230 constituencies at that time.
The idea of expanding the Electoral College was very good, since it would spread the democratic tendencies of the NPP. So, from 2008, all five executives of the polling stations in every constituency became delegates. In the event that there were 30,000 polling stations in the country, the grassroot base in the NPP will be 150,000 delegates. That was such good news.
Then the National Executive Council came out with an elite group of electorates, to be called Super Delegates who will prune down the number of aspirants, if they exceeded five, which was now the acceptable limit for the Presidential Primaries.
And here is what does not add up. During the 2014 Super Delegates Conference, 787 people, made up of constituency chairpersons, national executive committee members, funding members and members of the Council of Elders, formed the Super Delegates Electoral College. These people were mandated to prune down the number of aspirants from seven to five, which they did.
Now assuming, as was said that 2,500 people can easily be bought by any filthy rich aspirant, then what cannot be done with barely 800 delegates? The fear here is that any aspirant with the backing of the National Executive Committee can be given a list of those to make sure they make it to the Presidential Primaries. With this, is it not likely that the very popular aspirants, who can win over the Ghanaian electorates but are not in the good books of the powers that be, can be conveniently removed, democratically?
Tomorrow, Saturday August 26, 2023 would be the second of such Super Delegates Conference of the NPP and less than 900 delegates will make up the Electoral College. I am told they are 891. The main congress for the Presidential Primaries, slated for November this year, has about 190,000 delegates coming from the grassroot base, the polling stations alone. And 891 people are going to indicate to them which set of five aspirants they are to choose the flag bearer from.
To me, this Super Delegates concept should be scrapped because it is not democratic enough. How can the elite decide for the masses, in a democracy, who have got equal votes as they have, on the day that matters most, the General Elections Day.
If NPP is to showcase its unchallenged democratic tendencies as liberal democrats, then it should come out with a selection process that will involve all who matter in the Party. To begin with, loyal people who had once served in government and in Parliament, talking about former MPs, ministers, deputy ministers, CEOs, etc. etc., are exempted from selecting a flag bearer, except they serve in areas like polling station, constituency, regional and national executive committees. This is not respectful and democratic enough.
I will suggest that the race to the flag bearer slot must begin with all aspirants trekking to the constituencies and to get elected. At the end of the 276 trips, the top three will be made to contest at the Presidential Primaries. What should happen here is that only the constituency and polling station executives should be allowed to vote to select the three to contest in the Presidential Primaries.
With this concept, the majority will decide who and who should go into the primaries. And during the primaries, everyone who has once served in an NPP government or was an MP before must be included among the delegates.
One thing about the electoral trip to the constituencies is that, those who have the wish to lead the Party will have to start working at the grassroot base, where the votes actually come from. They must be seen in the trenches, doing all they can to be familiar with the people and the environment there. This is very important, for as it will show respect for those who make the votes possible, it will also prepare whoever wins the primaries to go into the General Election Campaign fully prepared and very much used to the ground. For the truth is every polling station is unique.
As the Super Delegates are going to the polls tomorrow, I pray that they are guided by the Holy Spirit to cast votes based on their conscience and select only those who if the win the Presidential Primaries, can easily break the eight.
A victory which is not laced with buying of votes is what the NPP wants, so that it can continue to exhibit to the whole world that it is a true democratic party, where people are respected and not used and abused.
May the Triune God, sent forth His angels to camped at all the electoral centres on Saturday and ensure that only what is Godly is made manifest.
Hon. Daniel Dugan
