Foot Soldiers Must Be Patient With Their Govts – Asiedu Nketia

The General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Johnson Asiedu Nketia has admonished foot soldiers to be patient with their party when they win power.

According to him, “there is nothing gratifying in party politics than having your party in power”.

Mr Nketia indicated that agitations of party supporters for immediate rewards after electoral victory mostly put parties out of power.

Addressing the second ordinary congress of the Movement for People’s Progress (MPP) party in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, he warned the consequences of a party losing power are worse.

“And to the party youth and to all committed foot soldiers of MPP, there is nothing gratifying in party politics than having your party in power.

“The frustration of party foot soldiers not getting employed immediately or quickly rewarded when the party comes to power cannot be overemphasised, yet the consequences are even worse when you find yourself in opposition,” he cautioned.

Mr. Nketia explained that the toils of party activists are mostly rewarded but not at a go thus the need to exercise restraint.

“The reward of party activism is like embarking on a journey; it starts with a step but covers miles with time. I readily recall a famous quote of the late leader of our party and former President Professor John Evans Atta Mills who said ‘while party activists must be rewarded, we must understand that some get their reward in the morning, others get theirs in the afternoon and others in the evening.

“The tendency for party faithful to get demoralised, disenchanted and apathetic as a result of this challenge is real and a difficult one to confront,” he lamented.

Mr. Nketia, who was recently elected as vice President for Socialists International (IS), also charged government appointees to often make efforts to reward supporters and activists in order not to create despondency which often cost the party in the end.

“It requires collective efforts of all political appointees and those who have gotten ‘theirs’ to carry their comrades along. This enhances party cohesion and mobilisation,” he said.

The MPP came to power in Burkina Faso in 2016 with Mark Rock Christian Kabore as President after the forceful removal of President Blaise Compaore who had sought to extend his stay after over 20 years in power.

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) lost power to the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the 2016 polls after eight years in power in Ghana.

   Source: The Ghanaian Times 
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