Michael Abbey, Chief Executive Officer of the Venture Capital Trust Fund (VCTF), has described the National Democratic Congress (NDC) as a political home for all Ghanaians, regardless of their social, cultural, religious, educational or economic backgrounds.
Speaking at the National Tertiary Education Institutions Network (TEIN) Conference, Mr. Abbey said the party’s social democratic philosophy was rooted in equality and inclusion, principles he said should guide its treatment of people from different backgrounds.
“The NDC is the only political party that has clearly defined its position. That regardless of where you come from-I don’t belong to the constitution-but regardless of where you come from, the NDC is the home for everybody,” he said.
He explained that Article 5 of the NDC Constitution defines the party’s philosophy as social democracy, which upholds equality and egalitarianism irrespective of an individual’s circumstances.
“The constitution of the NDC, in Article 5, defines the philosophy of the party. And it says that the party is a social democratic party that believes in the equality and the egalitarianity of each person, irrespective of their social, cultural, educational, political, religious, economic relations,” Mr. Abbey said.
He noted that the NDC formally adopted social democracy as its ideology in December 2002, although the party had existed before that decision.
According to him, the ideology provides a framework for promoting equal treatment and broad participation, rather than discriminating against people because of their backgrounds or circumstances.
Mr. Abbey urged members of TEIN, the party’s student wing in tertiary institutions, to familiarise themselves with the NDC’s constitution and ideological foundations to better understand and communicate its political identity.
He said the party’s intellectual base had a responsibility to acquire adequate knowledge of its history and ideology to respond to public discussions and criticisms of its political record.
“That is why they, as the intellectual base of the NDC, must be armed with information, knowledge about our history, about our ideology,” he said.
The National TEIN Conference brings together NDC student members from tertiary institutions across Ghana to engage on issues relating to the party’s ideology, history and political direction.
