The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has reaffirmed its policy that government appointees who remain in office will not be eligible to contest the party’s upcoming executive elections.
The party says its long-standing directive requiring government appointees to resign before seeking elective positions within the NDC remains in force and will be strictly enforced throughout the electoral process. Consequently, only individuals who are no longer serving in government positions will be allowed to file nominations and participate in the internal elections.
The NDC explained that although reports suggest some government appointees have resigned, the party headquarters has not yet received formal notifications from most of the individuals concerned. It said the eligibility of prospective candidates would be determined during the nomination, filing and vetting processes, when evidence of resignation would be verified.
The party, however, confirmed that some officials, including the Eastern Regional Chairman, the Eastern Regional Communications Officer and Leland Tay, who is contesting for the position of National Chairman, have resigned from their respective government roles.
Speaking on the matter, the NDC’s Acting IT Director, Jibril Mahdi, said government appointees who remain in office would automatically be disqualified from contesting the party’s elections.
“Whoever is in office is not qualified to contest our elections,” he said.
Mr. Mahdi explained that the party headquarters had not officially received resignation notices from most of the individuals reported to have stepped down.
“Officially, we have not received any notice from anybody that has resigned. Whatever we are hearing is based on social media information because, at party headquarters, we are not the appointing authority,” he stated.
He further stressed that the party had not received any requests for exemptions from the resignation requirement, insisting that the rule would be applied without special concessions.
“For now, whoever is still in office is automatically ineligible to contest as it stands,” he said.
The NDC is expected to proceed with its internal electoral calendar following the completion of the branch-level elections, with preparations now underway for the next phase of the party’s executive elections.
Story by Freedom Etsey Lavoe