Dr. Kobby Mensah, a lecturer and Political Marketing and Communications expert, says the expulsion of National Democratic Congress (NDC) former Deputy General Secretary, Samuel Koku Anyidoho was expected.
He intimated that, for them as political watchers monitoring activities and the issues erupting in the party, the expulsion is something which did not come to them as a surprise.
“For most of us the political watchers, we’ve been anticipating something like that for a very long time. Political parties are one of the fragile entities to manage or to belong to because the character of the political organization is completely different from many institutions.”
Dr. Kobby Mensah
Touching on the behavior of the former Deputy General Secretary,;he was of the view that, the interest of a member of the party can change from the main interest of the party and can result in conflict and expulsion like it has happened. He then called for measures to be put in place to help avoid such instances.
“One’s interest might not be in line with the party’s internal arrangement. So, there is some kind of turbulence. We’ve got to find a way to steer the party in a particular direction than what is actually happening in Ghana now. There’s some indiscipline within the political parties. And so, if you do not have measures in place,;you would end up satisfying the constitution but of course doing harm to the party’s interest. I actually expected it and I think there was nothing wrong with that.” Also
Dr. Kobby Mensah
Political parties must weather criticisms
Dr. Kobby Mensah further averred that political parties must be able to weather criticisms from within;the party but not to the extent that the image of the party is destroyed. He posited that in such instances,;action has to be taken like that which has been done to tighten up the various political parties.
“You’d expect members to express a deep understanding of issues and have differences to be able to disagree. But of course,;not to a state where it will bring the name of the brand or political party into disrepute.”
Dr. Kobby Mensah
He was of the view that;the expulsion of Koku Anyidoho is due to accumulation of criticisms thrown against the Mahama team in the party. He averred that although it might not be entirely that, other issues compounded the decision taken by the party.
“The issues are not that much of a political one. In this case,;there is a unanimous decision that he has to be removed and I think that is why he was removed.
“I don’t think it [Anyidoho’s criticisms] has got to do with keeping the Atta Mills legacy. I think most of the time it is about the fact that he has been sidelined and not been allowed to be… as he used to be. And it’s all about a firewall around the current leadership that would not even allow some kind of contribution from his side.”
Dr. Kobby Mensah
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