I’ve Never Been NDC

THE CLERK of the Obuasi Urban Council, Mrs. Adelaide Boldon has vehemently denied ever flirting with the country’s largest opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Mrs Boldon, also known as Auntie, as well denied joining the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) because of an appointment.

In an exclusive interview with DAILY GUIDE at her office on Friday, Auntie categorically stated that she had never been an NDC member and would never be one.

The former union leader at the then Ashanti Goldfields Company Limited (AGC) disclosed that due to the popularity and goodwill she enjoyed as a union leader who stood for the rights of underprivileged workers, especially the casual group, the NDC approached her with a proposal to stand on the ticket of the party for the 2004 parliamentary elections in Obuasi, which she flatly rejected.

“I rejected the offer because the NDC wanted me to pay ¢3million of the ¢5million required as filing fees, when indeed they were aware of my redundancy at the time,” she explained, adding that she could not fathom why she should be made to pay if indeed the party was wooing her because of her popularity and goodwill.

The first female clerk of the Obuasi Urban Council said before the NDC brought their proposal, she had been impressed upon by well-wishers to contest the parliamentary election as an independent candidate, which she obliged.

Mrs. Boldon lamented that just a day after she had travelled to Kumasi to declare her intention on a local radio station, the NDC, for reasons best known to them, made a publication in the Daily Graphic that she and other two persons who contested and lost in the party’s primaries had been sacked with immediate effect.

She said she was shocked by the publication because she never participated in the NDC primaries. However, she decided to ignore it because her numerous admirers realised the malicious intention of the NDC to malign her.

In spite of the attempts to blackmail her, Auntie made history by recording over 26,000 votes in the election, the highest votes for an independent candidate in a parliamentary election, as against the woeful 4,000 received by the NDC candidate.

The former Anyinam Assembly member said she was making these known now for discerning people to realize the falsehood the NDC was spreading about her good self.

She indicated that her current position as the clerk of the Urban Council was duly advertised and keenly contested.

“I’m not here because of my affiliation with the ruling party, but based on my competence and capabilities,” she stated.

Mrs. Boldon boasted of her achievements in her one year of stewardship, which she said included the construction of a market complex at Kokoteasuo, a suburb in the municipality, among others.

She advised the NDC to use the resources at their disposal to strengthen their ever-weakening party instead of concentrating on her.

The former union leader indicated that she was extremely happy to be in the NPP fraternity and that she had no regrets or whatsoever joining the ruling party.

She said she became attracted to the NPP because of its useful policies such as the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP), National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Capitation Grant and the School Feeding Programme.

She promised to remain faithful to the NPP and also work tirelessly to ensure that it retains power come December 2008 and beyond.

Mrs. Boldon said she had no parliamentary ambitions any longer because the opportunity she was seeking to better the lives of the people had been offered her, and that she was executing her plans to the benefit of the masses.

The urban clerk asked the people to rally behind her and the ruling party and treat the accusations by the NDC with the contempt it deserves.

From Morgan Owusu, Obuasi