The 2016 presidential candidate of the Progressive People’s Party, Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom has stated that he will never forget the day he was disqualified by the Electoral Commission from taking part in the December elections.
According to him, the intention to exclude him from the 2016 polls by the Electoral Commission showed the pettiness of some people he termed as “so-called leaders’’.
Speaking at a press conference organized by the PPP, Dr. Nduom said the incident made him realize how naive he has been about politics in Ghana, adding that the Electoral Commission’s conduct weakened the country’s strong state institution.
‘’I will never forget that day. It weakened what should be a strong state institution. It proved to me who my real friends are and showed the pettiness of some of our ‘so-called’ leaders. October 10th was an embodiment of politics by exclusion. It made me begin to realize how naïve I have been about politics in Ghana,” he stated
Recollecting the manner in which he was eliminated from the political race, Dr. Nduom counted the party’s losses and told the press how the situation jeopardized their campaign.
“Truly, it broke our campaign. Four years of organizing emotions, hard work and huge investments of our hard-earned Ghanaian money from party faithful gone. Campaign contributions and pledges disappeared.”
According to him, the Progressive People’s Party was mocked by opponents while some individuals asked their parliamentary candidates to step down.
“The opponents immediately went to the field and told our parliamentary candidates to give up. They told our supporters that our party was no longer in the race. We put on a brave face but we knew we had been dealt a fatal blow. They asked; how can you have a living body without a head? he stated.
Background to the story
The Progressive People’s Party challenged the EC’s decision to disqualify them from participating in the 2016 polls.
The court subsequently ruled that Dr. Nduom and the others be allowed to correct the errors on their forms to enable them to contest the elections.
Following that order, the PPP flag bearer and some of the other disqualified flag bearers were allowed to correct their errors to enable them to contest the elections.