The Prof. Kwesi Botchwey Committee that investigated reasons why the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) lost the December 2016 general elections will officially present its report to the party today.
The 13-member committee has been touring the entire country engaging the rank and file of the NDC, taking their views and concerns on the possible cause of the party’s historic defeat in the polls.
Former President John Dramani Mahama, who was the flag bearer of the NDC in the December 7 general election, lost to Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Nana Akufo-Addo secured 5,716,609 votes, representing 53.84 per cent of the valid votes cast, to snatch the Presidency from President Mahama, who secured 4,713,277 votes, representing 44.40 per cent.
The NDC also lost more than 40 parliamentary seats to the NPP, which has given the NPP the majority in Parliament. Following the NDC’s defeat, the committee was put together by its leadership to investigate the causes of that defeat.
The Kwesi Botchwey Committee did not have a smooth sailing exercise while performing its work as there were chaotic incidents in some parts of the country involving angry grassroot members of the NDC, who went bersek upon seeing the executives whom the accuse of causing the defeat attending the forum.
For instance confusion rocked the committee’s meeting in Koforidua when a brawl ensued after the irate party youth protested the decision to allow the Regional Executives to sit in the meeting, claiming the latter had let them down after the executives failed to secure 50% of the valid vote cast which was the NDC’s target in the Eastern Region.
The NDC youth accused their Regional executives of misappropriating funds meant to run the 2016 elections.
They demanded that the regional executives be made to account for every penny given them ahead of the election after supervising a shambolic performance.
It took the timely intervention of the police after a distress call to restore normalcy and also release the captured NDC bigwigs.
A similar incident happened in Somanya in the Lower Manya Krobo Constituency in the Eastern Region when the committee visited the area.