NDC congress peaceful
The 10th National Delegates Congress of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) passed off smoothly with no major incident as the security measures put in place yielded the desired results.
There was heavy police presence in and outside the stadium to ensure law and order.
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The police, apart from deploying men on the ground, also used drones as part of the enhanced security measures.
Before entering the stadium, the police checked for official vehicles and accreditation to ensure that only those who were accredited had access to the venue.
Personnel were also stationed at various locations around the stadium to ensure law and order prevailed.
Mahama commends
In his message at the end of the congress, former President John Mahama commended the personnel deployed for the good work
done.
“I want to thank the Inspector General of Police and the Ghana Police Service personnel who were deployed for the great job they have done.
“To think that they have been on their feet since 10 a.m. yesterday (Saturday) is not something that everybody can do, and so all the police officers here and those who coordinated the security from the Police Service, I want to congratulate you and thank you very much. We are indeed grateful to you,” he emphasised.
In addition to the security measures, the police mounted mobile clinics and police post while officers of the National Ambulance Service and Ghana National Fire Service were also present.
Delegates were also restricted to the yellow seats in the stadium as part of the security measures.
Both the planning committee and the police had indicated that they were placing premium on security in and around the Accra Sports Stadium.
While the police gave the assurance that they were going to do their part to ensure that the congress was successful, the planning committee of the congress said it had also mapped out strategies aimed at a largely incident-free event.
About 9,000 accredited delegates were expected to attend the congress and vote to elect national officers to run the party for the next four years.
They included party executive at all levels – national, regional and constituency, as well as executives of the party’s overseas branches.
At the end of the contest, the NDC delegates decided to elect their former General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, as the new National Chairman of the party; a feat that has never been recorded in any political party in the country since Ghana returned to multiparty democracy 30 years ago in 1992.
Activities
Meanwhile, the Accra Sports Stadium witnessed a variety of activities apart from the programme to elect national officers to lead the NDC.
The activities which added spice to the main event included the sale of party paraphernalia, assorted foods and drinks, as well as some entertainment with brass band music outside the stadium to whip up support for some contestants.
The roads leading to and from the stadium were awash with posters, banners and billboards of the various candidates.
Before and after entry into the stadium, one could also see on display the banners and posters of the various candidates indicating their positions on the ballot paper.done.
“I want to thank the Inspector General of Police and the police personnel who were deployed for the great job they had done.
“To think that they have been on their feet since 10 a.m. yesterday (Saturday) is not something that everybody can do, and so all the police officers here and those who coordinated the security from the Police Service, I want to congratulate you and thank you very much. We are indeed grateful to you,” he emphasised.
In addition to the security measures, the police mounted mobile clinics and police posts while officers of the National Ambulance Service and Ghana National Fire Service were also present.
Delegates were also restricted to the yellow seats in the stadium as part of the security measures.
Both the planning committee and the police had indicated that they were placing premium on security in and around the Accra Sports Stadium.
While the police gave the assurance that they were going to do their part to ensure that the congress was successful, the planning committee of the congress said it had also mapped out strategies aimed at a largely incident-free event.
About 9,000 accredited delegates were expected to attend the congress and vote to elect national officers to run the party for the next four years.
They included party executive at all levels – national, regional and constituency, as well as executives of the party’s overseas branches.
At the end of the contest, the NDC delegates elected their former General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, as the new National Chairman of the party; a feat that has never been recorded in any political party in the country since Ghana returned to multiparty democracy 30 years ago in 1992.
