AMBASSADOR MEETS PNC CANDIDATE EDWARD MAHAMA

UNCLAS ACCRA 001477

SIPDIS
DEPT FOR AF/W

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KDEM GH
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR MEETS PNC CANDIDATE EDWARD MAHAMA


1. (SBU) Summary. Ambassador Teitelbaum discussed the up
coming election with People's National Convention (PNC)
presidential candidate Dr. Edward Mahama. Mahama is making
his fourth run for president as the PNC's candidate, although
he has never received over three percent of the national
vote. Mahama lamented the lack of media attention he
receives, and how the power of incumbency works to the
benefit of the ruling party. He also described organizational
problems within the PNC. The PNC won four seats in parliament
in the 2004 election, and draws most of its support in
Ghana's Upper East and Upper West Regions. Ambassador
Teitelbaum used the meeting to stress that the U.S. was
neutral in the election and looked forward to working
positively with a new government, so long as the polling
reflected the will of the Ghanaian people. End Summary.


2. (U) Dr. Mahama met Ambassador Teitelbaum and POLOFF in
Mahama's home in a suburb of Accra. Mahama is a physician,
while his wife runs a small pharmacy out of their garage. He
lived in Chicago for fifteen years, and quipped that this
could be Chicago's year to produce two presidents. His four
children are U.S. citizens; one serves in the U.S. Navy.


3. (SBU) Mahama noted that Ghanaians want change, and noted
that conflicts occur when people become frustrated with the
pace of change. Mahama said that the NPP government had an
interest in "rigging" the election. As an example, he said
that he typically gets thirty seconds worth of coverage on
GTV's evening news, while the NPP vice-presidential candidate
gets five minutes. (Note: GTV is the government owned
channel. End Note.). He believes that the government owned
Daily Graphic newspaper had pulled its reporter from covering
his campaign. (Note: The Daily Graphic Wednesday carried a a
quarter page article quoting Dr. Mahama, although its
coverage of the PNC is typically less than for the two
leading parties. End Note.). He mentioned that he had
received, by accident, a text message from a NPP operative
saying that the party would not allow a run-off election.
Ambassador Teitelbaum noted that civil society groups had
consistently been calling for a peaceful election, to which
Mahama rejoined that "they have seen the signs." Mahama
emphasized that he could not be part of violence, and that of
the four major party candidates for president, he has
integrity, while the others had amassed wealth while holding
government office. Ambassador Teitelbaum stressed that the
U.S. was neutral in the election, and that we would work
positively with the next government, so long as the election
was seen as reflecting the will of the Ghanaian people.


4. (SBU) Asked about the role of the Electoral Commission,
Mahama said that "their work is suspect," noting problems
with the voter registry. The candidate said that his party
needed money to support polling agents, who staff polling
stations to prevent fraud. He seemed surprised when told that
the EC would be offering training to polling agents this
week, as if the message had not reached him through party
officials who liaise with the EC. He lamented the quality of
the PNC's polling agents, some of whom, he said, had accepted
bribes from other parties, and some of whom were illiterate.
Pointing again to the power of incumbency, he said that the
NPP was able to use teachers and civil servants as polling
agents.


5. (SBU) Comment. Dr. Mahama and the PNC are unlikely to see
an increase in support this election, either in the
presidential or parliamentary elections. The party's base is
in the sparsely populated northern regions of Ghana, where in
2004 it was unable to win more than 12% of the presidential
ballots. Together with the other Nkrumahist party, the
healthier Convention Peoples' Party (CPP),the PNC could win
enough votes force a run-off in the presidential election.
End Comment.


TEITELBAUM