Don’t summon Amidu if you can’t invite Rawlings – Victor Smith tells NDC

Former Ghana’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Victor Smith has said the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) must be even handed in trying to maintain discipline in the party.

According to him, it will be unfair to summon former Attorney General, Martin Amidu before the NDC Disciplinary Committee and leave out ex President Jerry John Rawlings, as many believe the utterances of these two stalwarts cause the NDC a lot of problems.

Two members of the NDC, Evans Amankwaa and Abigail Mensah, have petitioned the party hierarchy to take disciplinary action against Mr Amidu citing his endless epistles and public utterances that bring the NDC into disrepute.

Quoting Article 47 of the party’s constitution, the two are convinced, the conduct of Martin Amidu is in breach of the party’s constitution.

Mr Amidu, has been hard-hitting at the NDC after being sacked by late President Mills in 2012 following a misunderstanding with late President John Mills on how to handle the controversial Woyome judgement debt issue.

He’s consistently accused the former president and other senior government officials of presiding over corruption.

But some NDC members such as Alhaji Bature Idrissu have also called for the dismissal of ex President Rawlings, who’s the party’s founder as some comments made by him before and after the 2016 general elections have brought the party into disrepute.

However speaking to Kasapa FM, Victor Smith who’s also the former Eastern Regional Minister stated that in his view, taking disciplinary actions against Rawlings and Amidu is not the way to go if the NDC wants to have peace.

He added that the party must put aside the suspension discussion and rather call these critics and encourage them to ventilate their fustration through party structures.

“I think the Founder can speak in house, he doesn’t have to go on public platform to speak about what it is with the NDC party that worries him. I think that is not in order, if you’re a founder you’re the father of the party, if you’re not happy about something there’re channels that you can use and not to go public. I don’t think there’s anybody with the NDC who’s above the laws that govern the party.

“Personally, I think it will be difficult that the party leadership will summon Martin Amidu over his utterances that bring the party into disrepute without calling on ex President Rawlings. You can’t call one party stalwart and leave the other, that will be really bad. We need to look for a better way of dealing with this situation.”

Victor Smith was however surprised that ex President Rawlings persistently goes public with what he consideres to be wrong with the NDC.

“That fact that he continues to criticize the NDC publicly is what shocks me because he still has a say within the party. None of the NDC elders will turn down an invitation from ex President Rawlings to come over so they discuss certain happenings in the party that bothers him, so I just don’t understand the need for him to be washing the NDC dirty linen in public. Too much of Mr Rawlings public attack on the NDC angers a lot of people, becuase we have a long way to go in ensuring party unity and moving forward.”