The flagbearer-aspirant of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Prof. Joshua Alabi says he will discard the campaign strategy that the party deployed in the 2012 and 2016 elections.

The opposition party is going back to the days of "door-to-door" campaigning that was deployed under the leadership of late former President, John Evans Atta Mills, prior to the 2008 elections when he was opposition leader. 

The late Prof. Mills interacted with citizens in homes, cars and market centres ahead of the 2008 elections

Prof Joshua Alabi, a leading contender for the Presidential ticket of the NDC gave hints of this in a statement issued to congratulate the youth and women wings of the party for Saturday's successful congress. 

Dr. Hanna Louisa Bisiw and George Opare Addo were on Saturday elected as Women and Youth Organisers of the party at a joint Congress held at Gomoa Fetteh in the Central Region. The Congress marked the beginning of the process to elect national officers to steer the affairs of the party towards winning election 2020. 

New NDC Women’s Organiser, Dr. Hanna Louisa Bisiw

In the congratulatory statement posted on his Facebook page, the former UPSA Vice-Chancellor who was once a Campaign Manager for the late Prof Mills, tasked the NDC women "to knock doors, enter homes, markets and lorry stations" to campaign.

To make the reintroduced campaign methods successful, he went on to task the youth of the party to "take charge" of the 2020 campaign.

This micro-level of campaigning in communities, stated by the Prof, is a complete shift from what became the NDC campaign methods under the leadership of John Mahama.

Alien campaign

In 2012 and 2016, the NDC used health walks, durbars, rallies, jamborees and other large gatherings of crowds, to campaign.

John Mahama, his wife Lordina and party Chair Kofi Kportufe (behind) at a 2016 campaign rally

Such functions saw Ghanaian musicians and actors on stage singing and dancing to excite the NDC members. Some Ministers of State and Members of Parliament at the time also took the microphones and joined in the singing and dancing as a form of campaigning. 

The 2012 results ended them in an eight-long month period of election dispute settled finally by the Supreme Court with a verdict of 5-4. The results of such large crowd campaigning in 2016, gave the party its heaviest election defeat with a sitting President losing with a record of one million votes.

It was the first time in the country’s history, that a sitting President lost an election in the first round.

Unable to comprehend the reasons for such massive rejection by the Ghanaian populace, the NDC commissioned a former Finance Minister, Prof. Kwesi Botchwey, to conduct investigations into the unprecedented defeat.

Prof. Kwesi Botchwey

Extracts of the Kwesi Botchwey findings revealed among many others, that the campaign methods used by the former leader was ineffective, alien to the party's methods and ended up destroying the social democratic qualities that an NDC Presidential Candidate was to reflect.

Below is the full text of his statement: 

KUDOS TO OUR YOUTH AND WOMEN

The very successful outcome of yesterday's Youth and Women Congress, has brought honor to the National Democratic Congress (NDC). 

The peaceful and orderly manner in which the congress was conducted, gives me hope that our youth are ready to take charge, as our women get set to knock doors, enter homes, markets and lorry stations to preach our message of hope. 

I congratulate all the contestants for making us proud. The NDC is better today because of your decision to join the contest. You have further deepened our democratic credentials as a political party of choice. 

It is my wish and prayer that the winners will call and visit those who were not successful. I expect this magnanimity to be followed up by forming a strong women and youth teams that will reflect true unity and determination to work hand-in-hand towards #Victory2020. 

I look forward to that. 

Congratulations once again.