<<Print>>

That the call by Executive Director of Ghana Integrity Initiative, Vitus Azeem, for the removal of National Coordinator of National Disaster Management Organization, Kofi Portuphy is long overdue will be an understatement.

Indeed, knowing Kofi Portuphy for who he is, he ought not to have waited for calls on him to resign his post when he was elected National Chairman of the governing National Democratic Congress before he does that. For the sake of good governance and as a matter of ethics and morality, the astute politician ought to have resigned his post the very day he was pronounced winner of December 20, 2014 congress of the NDC.

Suffice it to say, there may be no law in Ghana barring the NADMO boss from occupying his present position even after he was elected Chairman of NDC, there is, however, no doubt that his continued clinging to the post while serving as the chairman of the governing NDC puts him in a conflict of interest situation, and it is only proper and in the interest good governance he steps down as head of the quasi-security organization.

It is even much more prudent Mr. Portuphy follows the initiative taken by one of his deputies; Madam Anita Desooso, who has quit her post to focus on political career ahead of the 2016 elections.

It is a fact that Kofi Portuphy combined his present position with being a vice Chairman of the NDC before his election as the substantive chairman, but being a vice chairman of a political party does not come with the same responsibilities as Chairman.

Unlike the vice chairman of a party (who in most cases are more than one), in Ghana, the daily running of political parties lies on the shoulders of their chairmen and general secretaries who don’t have the luxury of staying away from certain daily core functions but, not excluding the usual weekly Functional Executive meetings as well as the monthly NEC meetings.

Even more ominously is, when you have a National Chairman of a ruling party, seeking to retain power but having divided duties and attention of being the National Coordinator of a strategic state institution like NADMO and Chairman of the governing party. It then becomes unfair to Mr Portuphy himself, his party, the NDC and the appointing authority, the President as well as other political parties.

Contrary to the expectations of many NDC sympathizers, especially those who favoured the party’s top post, his few weeks stay in office as party Chairman has shown that he is much interested in the NADMO job than being the ‘father’ of the party. Reports are that he has not been regularly attending to critical party activities including FEC meetings and that alone must be a grave sense of worry to all discerning members of the NDC.

Even while critics of the NDC chairman are complaining about his visibility at the party headquarters, insiders at NADMO too say Mr Portuphy is hardly spotted and has not been regular at work as he is reported always on the flight trotting the globe.

Like the saying goes, a servant cannot serve two masters (effectively), therefore, Kofi Portuphy must with immediately effect choose to either retain his position as party chairman focusing on preparing the NDC for the crucial battle in 2016 or resign as National Coordinator of NADMO to save himself, the president, his party and government from further embarrassment.

His continuous stay in office as NADMO coordinator while maintaining his party chairmanship post would only mean that he is indifferent to the aspirations of millions of NDC supporters and sympathizers whose dream is to see the party remain in government after the 2016 elections. On the other hand, Mr. Portuphy’s continued clinging to his NADMO position while maintaining his NDC chairmanship will only go to question his patriotism and his respect for democracy.

Already, his continuous stay in office has added to the bad image being carved for the Mahama-led government. His resolute stands not to quit, has not only brought the name of government and party into disrepute, he is setting a bad and dangerous precedence that will come back to haunt the NDC in future.

How the decision of one man, who is no less a person than the arrow head of a ruling party, pushes government so hard to the wall that its opponents are likely to latch on as a campaign tool to rundown the government, beats all imaginations.

Perhaps, there is a pot of gold at NADMO that is so attractive that the NDC Chairman cannot afford to let go. If that is the case, he should continue licking whatever he has lubricated at NADMO while the NDC shreds into pieces ahead of next year crucial elections. Maybe when NDC loses the upcoming polls, the NPP may want to maintain him there because his actions and/or, inactions would have contributed to their victory.