This year marks the 30th anniversary of the largest opposition party, the National Democratic Congress.
The late Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings' party has scheduled a diamond anniversary celebration for today at the GNAT Hall in Accra.
The ceremony will be honored by former President of the Republic, John Dramani Mahama, and Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, under the theme "Unity. Stability. Development."
They will also make a special appearance during the event.
Meanwhile, here is some background information about the NDC:
Jerry John Rawlings, who was Head of State of Ghana from 1981 to 1993 and President of Ghana from 1993 to 2001, created the National Democratic Congress (NDC), a social-democratic political party in Ghana.
The NDC traces its origins to two important events: the June 4, 1979 Uprising and the December 31, 1979 Revolution, both of which set the tone for government openness, accountability, probity, and social justice.
Since the proclamation of independence in 1957, numerous governments have failed to recognize such important ideals, resulting to military incursions. In actuality, the June 4 Uprising's rules of engagement, which led to the handover of power to Dr. Hilla Limann's civilian administration, were broken, ushering in the 31st December Revolution.
The country was administered under the title "The Decade that Stopped the Decay" from 1982 to 1992, with the founding of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC), which waged a "Holy War" against corruption and other social ills.
The desire for the country's restoration to civil government was fueled by socioeconomic and political concerns. Old political forces, primarily the Nkrumahist and Danquah-Busia-Dombo traditions, needed to be reawakened.
It's worth noting that the operatives of both the June 4 Uprising (a mostly military effort known as the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council – AFRC) and the December 31st Revolution (a mix of military and civilians known as the Provisional National Defence Council – PNDC) were all descendants of one of the two groups.
It became a point of contention between two opposing schools of thinking. One school argued that a firm basis for a peaceful civilian political atmosphere had been built, and that as a result, operatives from both processes might return to their original positions.
Another school, on the other hand, believed that forming a political party was necessary for good reasons: to secure the advantages of the two processes and to temper the excesses that arose from the pains that some families blamed on the processes' operatives.
Another important issue was the necessity to lay the groundwork for a Third Force to shatter the previous duopoly, which had been adversarial and contentious to one another rather than acting as alternative growth agents.
Looking back on the political history of vilification, animosity, and great polarization throughout the pre- and post-independence years, it was a wiser option that the school of thought to create a political party gained the hearts of the majority of supporters, largely for the three reasons indicated.
With several shades of personalities from the military, Nkrumahist, Danquah-Busia-Dombo traditions, old and young revolutionaries who emerged from June 4 and 31, and non-conformist admirers of Jerry John Rawlings – the leading architect of the new order – it became clear that a party-of-many was the way to go.
As a result, JJ's followers, known as Jerryists, merged with the traditional political players, who were now working under a variety of flags. The Danquah-Busia-Dombo tradition, for example, was primarily known as "The Patriots." "The New Nation" supported the Nkrumahist movements. Eagle 1, Eagle 2, Rawlings Fun Club, and others were prominent in the Jerryist camp.
It was also a challenge to come up with a name for the party. Some believed that choosing People's National Democratic Congress (to keep the ancient acronym "PNDC") was the best way to avoid deviating and so forgetting our beginnings. Others were generous enough to remove the "P" and forge a new route, resulting in the National Democratic Congress - NDC.