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NDC’s ugly assault on civil society organisations

In the wake of three surveys – one from the Institute of Economic Affairs and two from the Centre for Democratic Development – the National Democratic Congress has gone at length to discredit civil society groups because the findings they churn out does not suit the party’s political agenda.

 

In the same vein, pre-election surveys and opinion polls will be thrown out there from civil society organisations (CSOs) for discussions so as to inform policy discussions and direction as well as re-strategizing.

In the wake of three surveys – one from the Institute of Economic Affairs and two from the Centre for Democratic Development – the National Democratic Congress has gone at length to discredit civil society groups because the findings they churn out does not suit the party’s political agenda.

Last week, surrogates of the party released a list of CSOs they claim are doing the bidding of the New Patriotic Party. I gleefully tweeted it and the reaction from some of my followers put the NDC in a bad light.

The list includes IMANI Ghana, IEA, CDD, Africa Centre for Democratic Governance, Occupy Ghana, Ghana Integrity Initiative and political pressure groups like the Alliance for Accountable Governance, AFAG, and Let My Vote Count Alliance, LMVC.

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And I asked on twitter,is this a sign of desperation?

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The foundation of every thriving democracy is its CSOs, period. Democracy is stifled when CSOs cannot make meaningful contributions or are scared to release findings because politicians will reject the findings and tag it as having a diabolic motive.

By far, these are the most credible CSOs the country has. And if you are to discredit them, which appears to be the strategy of the NDC, it findings becomes questionable and instead of focused deliberations, we begin to look at tangential issues like who the CSOs work for.

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CSOs have motives, I will be the last to deny that because I am a product of the Fredrich Ebert Foundation, a sympathetic member of the Socialist Forum of Ghana and a couple of left wing organisations.

However, to reject survey findings, you first have to tackle the methodology and the sample size. The NDC has done none of that. All we hear is that “we have severed relations with IEA and CDD.”

Why would a governing party like to nip these CSOs in the bud?

The IEA in 2015 released a survey that said the presidency is the second most corrupt institution in Ghana. The government said it was concocted. It responded saying appropriate survey methods were used to generate the outcome. The government did not challenge the methodology.

In 2016, it released another survey saying greed, low salaries as well as selfishness are the root cause of corruption. Government surrogates contested the findings.

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The Executive Director of GII, Linda Ofori Kwafo, is on record to have questioned the appropriateness of the president receiving a Ford Expedition gift from a Burkinabe Contractor.

She recently accused the government of vote buying when it came to light that the president distributed outboard motors to some fishermen in the Western region during his campaign tour of the region.

The breaking point, and perhaps, the point the NDC said enough is in enough, is when the CDD released a survey that said 70 percent of Ghanaians believe the economy was heading in the wrong direction. And the latest one that said 51 percent of Ghanaians say the party is engaged in vote buying.

The sudden tagging of these CSOs as NPP surrogates is not surprising considering the fact that the party is deeply embarrassed by these findings. It tells the story of a party clinching onto a straw.

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