PNC dared to produce 2007 delegates lists

THE Peoples National Convention (PNC) parliamentary aspirant for Ayawaso Central in the 2004 and 2008 elections, Ms Zalia Seidu, has challenged the leadership of the party to produce the list of delegates that elected them to office in 2007.
According to her, most of the people who formed part of the congress were not members of the PNC but ordinary people who were bribed and bussed from the three northern regions to vote for the executives and the presidential candidates into office.
Challenging the eligibility of the current national executive and Dr Edward Mahama, the 2008 presidential candidate of the party, Ms Seidu, who is also a gender advocate, told the Daily Graphic that although she was the party’s parliamentary candidate, she was never aware of how delegates were selected.
“My investigations later showed that none of the leadership in my constituency including myself, the parliamentary candidate and most of the members in Greater Accra were invited to participate in the congress. I never voted at the congress. They should publish the list for all to see,” she said.
She said leaders with transparent tendencies and committed to the growth of their parties, such as the NDC and the NPP, always published their delegates lists before their congresses and did not take non-members to vote at their congress.
She said the constitution of the PNC had spelt out clearly those who were eligible to participate and vote at the congress and included leading members of the party from the various constituencies and regions as well as tertiary institutions and farmer groups.
Asked why she had waited till close to three years after the congress before throwing such a challenge, Ms Seidu explained that she was of the view that the leadership would amend their ways and organise their things in conformity with the constitution after the congress, but it was clear that they would want to perpetuate their lawless practices again.
She stated that she and other members of the party would ensure that the party followed laid down rules and regulations governing the organisation of political parties in the country as part of measures to make the party attractive to all Ghanaians, irrespective of their religion and ethnic group.
She pointed out that someone could have contested the credibility of Dr Mahama in the law court if he had won the elections to become the president and that such serious illegality must not be allowed to be repeated in a country like Ghana which was governed by law and order.
Ms Seidu said the PNC had always been full of surprises even to the extent that those who vetted parliamentary candidates for the party before the 2008 elections were total strangers to the party who did not know anything about the party’s constitution.