The decision to run against Asiedu Nketia was "well calculated" – Anyidoho responds to critics

Thursday, January 31, 2019 Policy

Source: Myjoyonline.com

2019-01-31

Former deputy general secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Koku Anyidoho, defended his decision to challenge Johnson Asiedu Nketia as secretary general.

Asiedu Nketia rejected the former leader of the NDC at the last Congress of National Delegates of the party, garnering 6,642 votes against 1,625 votes for Mr. Anyidoho.

Before the elections, many had criticized Mr. Anyidoho's decision to challenge his boss, but he held out, promising to surprise his detractors with a dazzling victory. But that never happened.

Reacting for the first time to what some have called political suicide, Mr. Anyidoho said that, contrary to these claims, he knew what he had been doing from the beginning.

"It was not an imprudent decision. It was a well-calculated decision, so if you ask me, I do not regret anything, "he said Wednesday at a news program on PM, he said. Express on MultiTV.

Again after his defeat last November, some big supporters of the NDC, such as Ade Coker, regional chairman of the party in Greater Accra, hinted that the outcome of these elections was a great lesson in humility.

"If Koku had consulted me, I would have asked him to look for another job … it was a wrong move. It was a false move. Koku is a nice guy; it's a very nice gentleman but it's a fake move.

"You see that it's like a father and a son … someone with whom you've worked closely and you go and you want to challenge that person." It's never the best … Every aspect of life is a lesson, "he said.

However, Anyidoho justified his decision regarding PM Express by citing examples in Ghanaian politics of defeated candidates who returned – sometimes after many tries – to win a victory.

"You think that the loss of President Kufuor in 1996 was a mistake of political calculation? You think that when the president [John Evans Atta] Mills did not win in 2000 it was a miscalculation? Or do you think that when Nana Akufo-Addo did not win in 2008 and 2012, it was a miscalculation?

"As I said, if you observe the trend, President Kufuor did not win 1996, he came back in 2000 and the President 2000. President Mills did not win in 2000 but in 2008. Nana Akufo-Addo did not win in 2008, 2012 won 2016. So, there is nothing suicidal about it.It's an election.I do not think that anyone who has a patent for any position. [position] was open and I chose to challenge, "he told the host, Evans Mensah.

He said that in accordance with party rules, he followed the procedure to challenge "the elections were held, the delegates voted, the EC [Electoral Commission] reported results. In the supreme interest of the party, you accept the declared results and you continue. So, nothing of suicide. "