Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy

Ghanaians visit Kampala

As part of the Ghana-Uganda exchange, NIMD facilitated a visit by Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, the Secretary General of the National Democratic Congress (the ruling party in Ghana), Mr Nana Ohene Ntow, the Secretary General of New Patriotic Party (the main opposition in Ghana), and Mr P.V. Obeng, a former Presidential Advisor on Governmental Affairs, to Kampala, Uganda. This visit was a follow-up to the exchange visit by a delegation of Ugandan political parties to Ghana in October 2009 and was organized on the request of the Ugandans.

The visit was scheduled around a multiparty conference and the consecutively planned signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on interparty dialogue that had been crafted in Accra by the Ugandan delegation during the October visit.

Some 90 party delegates participated in the conference. Fifteen delegates were invited from each of the 6 parties: the Conservative Party, Democratic Party, Forum for Democratic Change, Justice Forum, National Resistance Movement and Uganda Peoples Congress.

Commitment to Interparty Dialogue

In preparation for the conference and the MOU, the NIMD country team for Uganda and the Ghanaian delegation held private meetings with the executive members of all six parties. These discussions presented an opportunity for the parties to explore their expectations or apprehensions about entering into the dialogue process.

Not all the parties had completed consultations within their ranks, which meant that the MOU could not yet be signed. However, each party made a verbal commitment at the end of the conference. This concluding session was open to the press and diplomatic corps. While some parties expressed some disquiet with current political issues, all of them made an unequivocal commitment to participating in the inclusive dialogue process – an early positive sign. The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding is now scheduled for early 2010, after the appropriate consultations have been concluded.
 

FURTHER READING:
'Inter-party dialogue learns from Ghana' (external link)
New Vision Online, December 2009.