“The delegates are the best judges. The delegates decide. No matter who you are or what you are doing, you must be in touch with your people back at home. You can even be recognised by the UN General Secretary as one of the best-performing MPs, ministers, or government officials, but when it comes to the elections, the people will decide your fate. When you are going for an election, you have to be a bit careful. You should know your delegates and take care of your delegates, or else, when the judgement day comes, nobody can save you,” the Upper East Regional Communication Officer for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Jonathan Abdallah Salifu said when he spoke to Mark Smith after the NDC’s primaries on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show.
For the primaries, Mr. Abdallah explained that relationships between delegates and the candidates count a lot. In cases where candidates do not have good relationships with the delegates or have completely lost touch, it would be extremely difficult to win an election.
The Regional Communication Officer, using himself as an example, explained that, as a delegate himself, one thing he is critical of is the relationship a candidate is able to build with him. Additionally, candidates may lose elections because of failed promises.
“Some delegates get candidates out, especially sitting MPs, because they feel that in their areas, they were promised boreholes, schools, and other things that were never delivered. Some, to an extent, because you failed to come to greet a funeral in their house, they take offence with that,” he said.
Mr. Salifu, confessed that the NDC’s just concluded primaries were intense in some constituencies and nearly impossible to forecast the outcomes.
Mr. Salifu mentioned the Bongo, Nabdam, Chiana-Paga and Navrongo constituencies as four of those where it was nearly impossible to predict who would win before the results were announced.
He said this when he spoke to Mark Smith on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show today.
See here, a list of all newly elected parliamentary candidates.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
