It has now emerged that the postponement of the La Dadekotopon constituency executive elections smacked of some invincible hands buying time for a well-greased and fueled pro-Mahama slate for all constituency executive positions.
A pro-Mahama team sheet was highly publicised in Dadekotopon ahead of the oppositional National Democratic Congress (NDC) constituency primaries.
But at the end of the primaries last Saturday at the La Wireless School Park, candidates loyal to presidential hopeful Sylvester Mensah popularly known as Sly swept the polls, leaving pro-Mahama aspirants in agonizing defeat in the first round of the contest.
The second round will be the Greater Regional elections in which incumbent Chairman and Mahama loyalist, Joseph Ade Coker and his allies are highly expected to lose miserably.
Led by known John Mahama (JM) loyalists Dzifa Gunu and TT Kateynor who is also a parliamentary hopeful, the team openly campaigned in all branches, announcing their allegiance to the John Dramani Mahama (JDM) come-back campaign.
They also used the same list to send statements to NDC members that party’s flagbearer hopeful Sly, a prominent member of the Dadekotopon constituency, had no grounds in his own backyard.
Reports even indicated that with surreptitious attempts to influence the outcome of the polls, some branches had a uniform amount of GH¢250 and a cloth for female delegates while others had nothing.
But it was obvious other senior members have always had interest in the leadership of the La constituency at heart.
The previous constituency election was a turf war between the two former Members of Parliament (MPs), which outcome saw team Sly winning all positions including all eight executive member positions.
This time round, a more vibrant pro-Mahama team, loud and active, engaged in a contest to give Mahama a significant influence in a potential rival’s constituency.
On the day of the constituency election, scores of Mahama loyalists were unleashed to the grounds at the La Wireless School Park, including some regional executives, a contingent of the Mahama Ladies group, and others from constituencies in the greater Accra Region.
The atmosphere was tension-packed, silent and peaceful except some skirmishes between the noisy Mahama ladies and a group loyal to former La Dadekotopon MP Hon Namoale which was instantly quelled by the gathering.
At the end of the elections the pro-Mahama team was wiped out in a near tsunami.
On the face value, candidates on the Mahama ticket named “JM 4 2020” made a poor showing by losing 16 out of the 19 member strong team on their slate.
A similar situation was said to have occurred in Ningo-Prampram where pro-Mahama candidates including incumbents were wiped out.
The Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary, Communication Officer, Treasurer were all voted out.
The Central Region had the worse casualties for the pro-Mahama constituency contingents.
The fallout from the Dadekotopon constituency wipe out has been aggressive attacks and falsehoods by the promoters of the pro-Mahama slates across the country.
Even where an Ewe pro-Mahama candidate, Dzifa lost to another Ewe Edem in the prestigious constituency secretary position contest, social media is awash with lies of tribal politics as the reason for Dzifa’s poor showing and obvious defeat.
Indeed the mood in the NDC is for change and the manifestation is all around the country.
It would be interesting to see how former President Mahama contests the likes of Second Deputy Speaker Alban Bagbin, Sly and former Rector of University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), Prof. Joshua Alabi.
Political pundits are worried that from the composure and perceived political intolerance of the pro-Mahama elements, the aftermath of the presidential primaries could be challenging for the NDC.
