Ato Ahwoi: I Don’t Talk Trivia

Prior to his becoming President, critics and political opponents of Prof. John Evans Atta Mills suggested that he would be a leader who would be remote-controlled by former President Jerry John Rawlings, who brought him into the political limelight.

Though it is obvious that President Mills has weaned himself off the dictates of Mr. Rawlings, there seems to be another twist currently focusing on the three Ahwoi brothers, who are all senior members of the Mills administration.

But Mr. Ato Ahwoi, a leading member of the ruling NDC, has described Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah’s comments as trivia and one which does not merit discussion. He told The Enquirer newspaper in a telephone interview over the weekend that “Please, please, please, look, if he did not talk about policies, issues and programmes, I would not say anything about what he said.”

Mr. Ahwoi suggested that he would rather devote his time and energies to discuss issues, policies and programmes that would propel the nation forward rather than discussing what he termed ‘trivia.’ He said, “I discuss only policies and issues. I don’t discuss trivia.” Dr. Spio-Garbrah, a former National Vice Chairman of the National Democratic Congress, last week accused the President of not being in control of the nation’s affairs, suggesting that his actions were being dictated to him by the three Ahwoi brothers, Ato, Kwamena and Kwesi, all senior members of the Mills administration.

Speaking on an Accra based radio station, Dr. Spio-Garbarh said the President has not been able to fulfill some of his promises, including a promise to appoint him Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Minister, due to the control exercised on him mostly by the Ahwois and other unnamed persons at the Presidency. Dr. Spio-Garbarah concedes that the President has so far proved that he cannot be controlled by the NDC founder, but insists the President has shown he cannot wean himself off the control of the Ahwoi brothers.

“When the President of the Republic of Ghana, duly sworn in, with all the powers of that position, looks in my face and tells me ‘I’d like to give you this position’ and somebody else should tell him that ‘if you give him this position, it’s over my dead body, we shan’t work with you,’ and those people are holding his campaign funds, and therefore he feels trapped, then I feel that it’s a kind of intimidation, a kind of financial terrorism that is being applied at the presidency,” he stated. “He (President Mills) said to me, that when I become president… Ekwow Spio-Garbrah will be the first person that I will make a minister in my government… And then he told the Ahwois and others also that if some day he is not willing or able to run as President I was the one that he would want to support.

And of course they found that very unpleasant because they also have their own plans, and possibly one of them could also be the president, so since that day I’ve been a target of their anger and frustration,” Spio went on.

Asked if he was referring to Mr. Ato Ahwoi, who is a key right hand man of the President, when he stated that somebody other than the President was the one calling the shots at the Presidency, Dr. Spio-Garbrah stated: “Well, I don’t know who is calling all the shots, but certainly when it comes to certain shots, at least those that I’m familiar with, a president cannot look in my eye and tell me what he thinks he plans to do and somehow he cannot do it, it means there’s a problem. And it’s happened more than twice.”

Dr. Spio-Garbrah recently picked up nomination forms to run for the position of NDC flagbearer for 2012. He said his decision to run for the position was influenced by a myriad of serious problems bedeviling the party and country, adding that he could pull out of the race to unseat the President if Prof Mills does what he calls “the right thing.” The Enquirer