Konadu is a winner; with or without congress- Herbert Mensah

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