Former High Commissioner to the UK and Ireland and former Special Aide to ex-President Rawlings, Ambassador Victor Smith, has narrated how former President John Dramani Mahama tried to convince the General Secretary of the NDC not to contest for the party's chairmanship position.
According to him, the former president told Johnson Asiedu Nketiah to hold on to his chairmanship ambitions because the current chairman was doing a good job and there was no need to change him.
Speaking in a Neat FM interview monitored by GhanaWeb, Amb. Smith said that Mahama, together with some of the elders of the NDC, told Asiedu Nketiah that contesting the chairmanship race would lead to unnecessary tension in the party.
"It is a fact that the former president tried to prevail on Asiedu Nketiah to hold his old position and not to contest the chairman.
"He advised the General Secretary to hold on to his chairmanship ambition and not to contest at this time. He (Mahama) spoke to some elders of the party, and they called the general secretary and the chairman. He tried to impress on the general secretary not to contest.
"He told him (Asiedu Nketiah) if he (the chairman) was not doing his work well, nobody will want him to continue and that he must not contest to avoid negative fallouts in the party," he said in Twi.
Amb. Smith, a leading member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), also said that he finds it difficult to understand why Asiedu Nketiah opted to leave his general secretary position because he was the one running the party.
He added that Asiedu Nketiah is only contesting the party's chairmanship position because he has an ulterior motive.
Meanwhile, the party's national elections are slated for Saturday, December 17, 2022.
Candidates will be contesting for various positions, including the National Chairman, National Vice-Chairmen, General Secretary, Deputy General Secretary, National Organiser, and Deputy National Organiser, as well as the National Treasurer and Deputy National Treasurer.
Others are the National Communications Officer and Deputy, and the National Zongo Caucus Coordinator.
The current National Chairman of the party, Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, is expected to face stiff competition from the outgoing General Secretary of the party, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, for the chairmanship position.
The party's women and youth leadership elections were held on Saturday, December 10, with the National Youth Organizer, George Opare Addo, and the National Women's Organiser, Dr. Hannah Bissiw, retaining their positions.
Watch the interview below:
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Asiedu Nketiah, Victor Smith, John Dramani Mahama (from left to right)