Wikileaks cable 09ACCRA31: Hannah Tetteh reveals NDC's secret agenda

Viewing cable 09ACCRA31, NDC HOPES TO BRING MINOR PARTIES INTO THE TENT

Reference ID	Created	Released	Classification	Origin
09ACCRA31	2009-01-16 11:25	2011-08-30 01:44	CONFIDENTIAL	Embassy Accra

VZCZCXRO8776
PP RUEHPA
DE RUEHAR #0031/01 0161125
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 161125Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY ACCRA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7485
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHMFISS/CDR USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ACCRA 000031 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/W 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/14/2019 
TAGS: GH KDEM PGOV PHUM PINS PREL
SUBJECT: NDC HOPES TO BRING MINOR PARTIES INTO THE TENT 
 
REF: ACCRA 19 
 
Classified By: POLCHIEF GPERGL FOR REASONS 1.4 b&d 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY. Poloff met on January 13 with Hannah Tetteh, 
the new ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) party's 
head of communications for the transition.  She discussed the 
state of the handover, parliamentary issues, party 
appointments and changes, Kufuor's final actions as 
President, NDC's quest for better gender equality in 
government, and the likely role of former president Jerry 
Rawlings.  Most significantly, Tetteh described how the NDC 
plans to merge the two most important minor parties--the 
Convention People's Party (CPP) and the People's National 
Convention (PNC) into the NDC fold, basically turning 
Ghanaian politics into a two-party system.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (C) Hannah Tetteh, one of the most moderate and 
influential voices in the NDC, began the conversation by 
lamenting the poor quality of the information and material 
the transition team has been receiving from the outgoing New 
Patriotic Party (NPP) administration.  From the president's 
office down through most of the ministries, she said, the 
turnover papers have been minimal, in some cases, just a few 
bulleted items to sum up a ministry's entire portfolio. 
Whether caused by laziness, indiscipline, or a purposeful 
attempt to cover up transgressions, she said, it is slowing 
down the transition process and forcing the new government to 
dig deeper into records to determine the status of affairs in 
most government agencies.  As examples, she pointed to 
government vehicles and residences that had not been 
accounted for, as well as a last-minute wave of military 
promotions and foreign service inductions that had raised 
eyebrows even among NPP supporters.  Although President Mills 
had promised that the party would not pursue partisan 
retribution, Tetteh made it clear that obvious episodes of 
malfeasance would have to be referred to the courts. 
 
¶3. (C)  Tetteh confirmed that the NDC had paid dearly to 
obtain the votes of the two PNC members in Parliament 
(reftel), saying that in addition to accommodating the party 
with district, commission, and ambassadorial positions, both 
MPs would be receiving Deputy Minister jobs in return for 
their agreement to sit with the NDC to constitute a 
legislative majority.  Enforcing party discipline on critical 
votes would still be a key objective, since the margin was so 
thin.  She also noted that the party was courting Alhaji 
Saani Iddi, the independent MP from Wulensi in the Northern 
Region, but that so far his demands (for both position and 
money) were unreasonable, and he would "have to come back 
down to earth."  On the subject of neophyte CPP politician 
Samia Nkrumah (Kwame Nkrumah's daughter, who has joined 
neither majority or minority in Parliament, and has pledged 
to vote on issues based on their merit), Tetteh simply shook 
her head and said "that girl is going to have a lot to learn." 
 
¶4. (C) The choice of Joyce Bamford Addo as speaker of 
Parliament was pure genius on many levels, Tetteh said. 
First of all, she is a woman, and the NDC has a long way to 
go on gender balance in high office.  Secondly, and most 
importantly, it was clear that the NPP could find no grounds 
to object to her.  Lastly, she was seen as someone who would 
take orders and be malleable to party discipline.  She said 
that for important votes, the party would remove Addo and put 
the First Deputy Speaker Edward Adjaho into her place as a 
stronger enforcer.  She also confirmed that Majority Leader 
Alban Bagbin would not be in that position for long because 
he wanted to become part of the executive branch and run a 
ministry.  Tetteh further stated that at the next party 
congress, Kwabena Adjei, NDC's national chairman, would 
likely be replaced, because "he lacks maturity -- and I don't 
mean because of his age." 
 
¶5. (C) On the subject of Jerry Rawlings, Tetteh said that the 
party had arrived at a working compromise that she was 
certain would be satisfactory.  Betty Mould Idrissu, wife of 
the party's campaign chairman and a protege of both Rawlings 
and his wife Nana Konadu, would be getting a ministerial 
position, and so would at least one other of Rawlings' 
closest associates.  Others close to the former president 
would also be given positions of some importance, as yet 
undetermined.  As for Rawlings himself, said Tetteh, the most 
important thing for him is that the party pay him the respect 
he feels he is due.  She once again verified that Mills would 
seek his counsel where appropriate, but Rawlings would not be 
an "eminence grise" pulling any strings in the new 
administration. 
 
¶6. (C) Finally, Tetteh said that the NDC is very keen to 
consolidate its power by incorporating both the CPP and PNC 
 
ACCRA 00000031  002 OF 002 
 
 
parties into the NDC, and convincing both their executive 
councils and their followers that they have no future as 
minor parties (a supposition that could be reasonably deduced 
by their steady decline in support in recent elections).  The 
plan is to assert that the NDC is the rightful inheritor of 
the principles of both parties, and that its manifesto more 
closely mirrors the aspirations of each party and the tenets 
of Nkrumahism.  The party also plans to play on the CPP 
origins of both Mills and Vice President John Mahama.  While 
he was still in secondary school, Mills was selected to study 
at the Kwame Nkrumah Ideological Institute, and became a CPP 
member.  Mahama's father was a minister under Nkrumah, and 
the family has long-standing CPP ties. 
 
¶7. (C) Another gambit to move the CPP closer to the NDC will 
be to appoint several female CPP members throughout the 
country as District Chief Executives. (NOTE: The president 
appoints all 138 DCEs, as well as al 10 Regional Ministers. 
END NOTE)  While the party may not reach its goal of 40 per 
cent females in government-appointed positions, Tetteh was 
hopeful that they would manage at least 35 per cent.  A large 
number of women serve in district assemblies, and many of 
them are CPP members.  The NDC plans to target them, both to 
win them over to the NDC, and because the party perceives 
that women DCEs display a greater sense of loyalty to the 
central government than do their male counterparts. 
 
¶8. (C)  COMMENT.  Managing to co-opt the two significant 
minor parties with any real following would be a huge coup 
for the NDC, but it is unlikely to be a ploy they can carry 
out anytime soon.  Party allegiances still run deep, 
especially for the PNC in the northern regions of Ghana, and 
for the CPP in the Western Region where Nkrumah was born. 
Constitutionally, any formal party change for MPs would 
require them to sit for a by-election.  Tetteh also 
acknowledged that a major obstacle to winning over those 
party loyalists is named Jerry Rawlings.  She said that the 
party would have to prove that Rawlings was truly out of 
power, something she was sure they could manage.  There is no 
denying, however, that given the waning fortunes of the CPP 
and PNC and the soul-searching that has resulted from their 
abysmal showing in the 2008 elections, the ruling NDC party 
is making its move at the right time.  With patience and the 
prudent distribution of largesse, courting these blocs could 
deliver a significant long-term dividend. 
TEITELBAUM