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Party factions and power blocs in Ghana: a case study of power politics in the National Democratic Congress*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 November 2012

George M. Bob-Milliar
George M. Bob-Milliar*
Affiliation:
Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, PO Box LG. 73, Legon-Accra, Ghana
*
Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Competition for the executive leadership of a political party and the distribution of state patronage in Ghana is influenced by factional alignments and group interests. In December 2008 the National Democratic Congress (NDC) regained political power, and within months rifts appeared over the allocation of ministerial portfolios. The intra-party murmurings became public when two factions supported rival candidacies for the party's presidential nomination. The pro-Rawlings faction supported the candidacy of Nana Konadu Agyemang-Rawlings, and the anti-Rawlings bloc backed President John Evans Atta Mills. Drawing on Boucek's (2009) typology of factionalism, this article argues that factionalism within the NDC is a dynamic and complex process of informal groupings competing and jockeying for power to satisfy members' interests. It draws three conclusions: party factions are ad hoc groupings that are nurtured into a power bloc, and are constellated around particular individuals; factional conflicts are not rooted in ideology, but are based on differences in policy goals, interests and patronage; and, finally, factionalism fluctuates between cooperative and competitive phases.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 50 , Issue 4 , December 2012 , pp. 573 - 601
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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Footnotes

*

The author wishes to thank Rita Abrahamsen, Joshua Zaato, Mohammed Awal, Collins Adu-Brempah Brobbey, the two anonymous reviewers and the editor for their constructive comments on earlier drafts, from which the final version has greatly benefited. A version of this article was presented at the Makerere Institute of Social Research, Makerere University, 18 April 2012. The author thanks the participants. Nevertheless, the author is solely responsible for any remaining errors.

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Interviews

Agyeman-Duah, Ivor, author, political journalist, and former editor of the Ashanti Pioneer, Legon, 16.3.2012

Anonymous A, Professor of Political Science & NPP member, Legon, 19.3.2012

Anonymous B, senior political editor of a state-owned newspaper, Accra, 7.3.2012

Anonymous C, former National Chairman of the NDC, Accra, 16.6.2011

Anonymous D, former General Secretary of theNDC, Accra, 12.2.2012

Essuman-Johnson, Professor, political scientist, University of Ghana, Legon, 12.3.2012

Kpessa, Dr Michael Whyte, political scientist & research fellow, University of Ghana, Legon, 14.3.2012

Seidu, Alhaji M. A., former NDC Member of Parliament, Wa Central; former Majority Leader and Presidential Adviser, Tendamba, 10.10.2008

Seini, Wayo, Professor, former NPP National Executive Committee member & former second national vice-chairman, Legon, 15.3.2012