Jealous Nana Konadu played a role in Rawlings parting ways with Mills – Ahwoi

The influence of the wife of former President Jerry John Rawlings played a significant role in the parting of ways between Rawlings and the late Prof Mills, Prof Kwamena Ahwoi has recounted in his book, “Working with Rawlings”.

According to him, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, Rawlings' wife also influenced greatly, her husband's falling out with his comrades and confidants who had worked closely over the years.

This, Prof Ahwoi indicated, was borne out of Nana Konadu’s ambition to lead the NDC and to become President of the Republic of Ghana.

Ahwoi wrote on page 262 of his book that after the appointment of Kofi Totobi-Quakyi as the National Security Minister, which brought the latter closer to JJ Rawlings, Nana Konadu called him (Kwamena Ahwoi) and told him that he should tell Totobi-Quakyi as follows: “ko ka kyere wo Totobi no se onim se nea me si bree ye ansa meregye me kunu afiri Kojo Tsikata ne PV Obeng nsa mu a, anka enye se ono nso aba na orebepe se obegye no afiri me nsam bio no” to wit "Go and tell that your Totobi that if he knew how I struggled to snatch back my husband from the clutches of Kojo Tsikata and PV Obeng, he would not be making the mistake of he also wanting to snatch my husband from me again".

“Obviously a very jealous wife, Nana Konadu must have seen these working colleagues of her husband’s as rivals who were taking too much of her husband’s time as a result of which he did not have much time for her,” Prof Ahwoi wrote further.

Prof Kwamena Ahwoi said that the formation of ‘Get Atta Mills Elected’ (GAME) was also influenced by Nana Konadu’s role or deliberate effort to distance Rawlings from his comrades.

“Because Rawlings had fallen out with Mills and was backing candidates opposed to Mills, the pro-Mills GAME also unconsciously became [an] anti-Rawlings vehicle and onboard this vehicle were Ato Ahwoi, PV Obeng, Kwame Peprah, Kofi Totobi-Quakyi and myself, with Captain Kojo Tsikata as one of our advisers," he added.

“It was against this near-invincible NDC political vehicle that Nana Konadu pitched her band of inexperienced neophytes under the banner of Friends of Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings (FONKAR),” Prof Ahwoi explained in his book.

He added that immediately Nana Konadu announced her candidature, GAME ‘opened fire’ on her.

“We the former pro-Rawlings loyalists who were members of GAME did not think that we were taking a stand against Rawlings," Ahwoi wrote.

“On the whole, Nana Konadu played a critical role in the estrangement and falling out between Jerry Rawlings and his one-time comrades and confidantes," Ahwoi concluded.