The reality behind the NDC primary election results, 95.1% AND 4.9%

The NDC should be accorded very high marks for the recent Presidential and Parliamentary primaries elections that it has successfully conducted across about 8,000 polling stations in Ghana. It was a bold and pioneering democratic process that has definitely given the NDC a head start towards the 2016 elections.

Bold because it could have resulted in chaotic consequences across the country, considering the number of polling stations involved, and resulted in the party having the same unstable image that the NPP is currently grappling with. The elections have firmly established in the minds of Ghanaians that the NDC is an organized and well managed party that is better placed to handle governance in Ghana than its main competitor the NPP that is engulfed in acrimony and serious instability.

The other interesting issue that has emerged after the elections has been the subjective analysis that has been conducted on the Presidential results of the NDC elections.
The NPP not surprisingly has chosen to dwell on the 4.9% no votes that were recorded against President Mahama in the elections, and are making undue capital out of it. As usual the NPP’s propensity for dwelling on trivialities has been resurrected on this issue. The reality however is that the 95.1% endorsement achieved by President Mahama is very impressive considering the details behind the numbers. The details are that the 95.1% was achieved on the basis of a near 1.3 Million NDC voter population as opposed to the 94.0% or so achieved by Nana Akuffo Addo on a limited NPP closed primary voter population of 140,000 delegates.
What would have been the percentages for Akuffo Addo had NPP gone through their process on a similar more open and broader voter population platform as employed by that the NDC. ie. from open registration of members to the broader voting platform that the NDC adopted? One can predict that against the acrimonious background of the AKuffo Addo and Allan Kyeremanteng rivalry that has engulfed the NPP Nana Akuffo Addo would have obtained a much lesser yes vote of around 70% over a similar delegate voter population of 1.3 Million NPP members.
In other words, it is much easier to manipulate a voter number of 140,000 as opposed to 1.3 Million to arrive at a favourable percentage result. Indeed no candidate can ever achieve a 100% result in an election involving 1.3 Million voters even if he or she is the sole candidate. The 95% result is thus a very strong and positive showing for President Mahama, and is the strongest indication yet that he is a very popular leader among NDC voters, and this could translate into a strong showing for him in election 2016.

With such solid support on his party front over such a large voter population one should not be surprised if he emerges with a 58% result in the 2016 national elections. This is more so the case against the background of a demoralized NPP front characterized by ongoing infighting which would definitely affect its votes negatively in election 2016.

The NPP therefore have every reason to worry about the recent NDC election results because it has clearly established the NDC as an organized and solid party that has gained acceptance across Ghana including even in the Ashanti Region. The fact that even with the challenges facing the nation the NDC is able to present a relatively united and energized support base behind its very popular leader going into election 2016 is quite significant.
God bless our Homeland Ghana.

Report by: Mensah Dekportor (Hamburg – Germany)
Email: [email protected]