NDC Delegate Conference: 3 Stalwart Pick Forms to Contest for Top Positions – [Full Details]

In the midst of the intensifying preparations for the national election of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), three stalwarts of the party have submitted their nominations to compete for the positions of national chairman and general secretary of the party.

They are the current Director of Elections, Elvis Afriyie Ankrah; a former Greater Accra Regional Minister named Nii Armah Ashitey, and the incumbent National Chairman, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo. Samuel Ofosu Ampofo is running for reelection to his position as National Chairman.

Mr. Ofosu Ampofo, Mr. Ashitey, and Mr. Ankrah all sent in their applications to be considered for the position of national chairman. Mr. Ankrah sent in his application to be considered for the position of general secretary.

Samuel Ofosu- Ampofo

After filing his candidacy forms at the party headquarters, Mr. Ofosu Ampofo addressed the media and made a commitment to unify the party in order to achieve success in the 2024 general election. He stated that the only way the party could win the upcoming election was to concentrate on the things that united its members rather than on the problems that divided them, and he pledged that he would “continue to create bridges and not walls.”

Mr. Ofosu Ampofo said that he would keep working to create a party that everyone could join and that would stay united and on track with the help of the party's core values, which include freedom, openness, unity, honesty, and responsibility. In the year leading up to the general election, he promised to train more than 80,000 polling agents. This was done so that the party could keep a closer eye on the voting process.

Mr. Ofosu Ampofo made a promise to review the party's constitution in order to reflect the new reality of the role that its council of elders plays in the party, as well as to synchronize the party's structure in order to restore consistency and institutional efficiency at all levels.

Elvis Afriyie Ankrah

Mr. Ankrah, who also submitted his forms, later held a press conference in which he pleaded with delegates of the party to make the correct decision and offer him the mandate to steer operations of the party in the upcoming delegate conference.

He stated that although he possessed the necessary skills and experiences that made him exceptionally qualified, it was the responsibility of the delegates to give him the mandate to assist the party in winning the general election in 2024.

Mr. Ankrah said, “That is why I say to you that you are playing the role of God, and you must see your responsibilities both as democratic and spiritual because the very survival of this country and this democracy rests on it.”

He stated that the state of the nation was plagued by a number of economic and democratic instabilities while the New Patriotic Party was in power.

According to him, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), of which he is the party scribe and leader, is the last border of hope for the masses. So, he told them that the upcoming election for the delegate congress should be seen as the most important election in the history of the country.

Nii Armah Ashitey

Mr. Ashitey, a former Member of Parliament (MP) for the Korle Klottey seat, who filed his nomination, stated  in an interview at the party's headquarters that he was the first to file. When asked about the reason he was running for office, he responded by saying that he wanted to be the leader of the party to assist in restoring faith in the NDC.

Mr. Ashitey stated that he is qualified to lead the party as Chairman because he had worked his way up through the party's hierarchy, beginning at the branch level, serving as Mayor of Tema during the first NDC administration from 1992 to 2001, and working as a minister during the administrations of both Prof. Mills and John Mahama.