With barely, a day to the much anticipated July 8 to 10 National Delegates¹
Congress of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Sunyani,
Ghanaian political commentators and pundits have weighed in heavily and one
of such men is the former chairman of Asante Kotoko, Mr. Herbert Mensah.
Speaking exclusively to Xfm 95.1 Wednesday July, 6 2011 on a wide range of
issues with regards to the impending congress, Mr. Mensah spoke passionately
about how far the NDC and the former first lady in particular has come with
her presidential ambition. He was worried that with a few days to the
congress, people in government including the Vice President are using state
apparatus and sharing money in what they call Œmopping up¹ and felt some of
these stances and positions will come back to haunt the NDC in the general
elections since the Œenemy¹ and main threat everyone should be worried
about according to him is the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and not the former
first lady as it is being peddled around by some NDC people. Discounting
reports that former President Rawlings is not in favour with the wife¹s
decision to contest the flagbearership slot of the party, Herbert Mensah
described the Rawlings¹s as ³united and bonded in their philosophy²,
explaining that the former president is more concerned about the party¹s
principles which have been thrown to the dogs by President John Mills and
his cohorts. He opined that for Mrs. Rawlings to even be challenging an
incumbent President and to have taken all the ³intimidations, levels of
abuse, baseless stories in certain media outlets in trying to scare her², is
already a sign of victory for her no matter the outcome of the Sunyani
congress, stressing that July 8 is only a date in the calendar. He said
Mrs. Rawlings winning Saturday¹s election will be something monumental
because she will then be part of Cabinet and other decision making
structures which will make it easier for her to make the necessary changes
to ensure accountability and the right way to do things both at party and
national levels by way of principles. According to Herbert Mensah,
President Mills inherited a united party but is now leading a disunited
party emphasizing that there will be a time when he (President Mills) will
leave office, however, adding that the founder will always be there, as the
party¹s Œtalisman¹. To him, there hasn¹t been the best leadership since the
NDC took over the running of affairs in this country which he said is an
indictment on the presidency and wished that the ent
ire contest never happens at all because in the final analysis it might come
back to affect the chances of the party. Here is a link to the full
interview- http://soundcloud.com/starcode037/herbert-mensah-speaks
By Nana
Mensah/Xfm95.1/Accra/Ghana
