Mahama’s minister campaigns against him

Minister of state in- charge of Public Sector Reforms, Alhassan Azong has called on the electorates in Builsa-South Constituency in the Upper East region and by extension, the voting population in Ghana to vote massively for the flag-bearer of the People’s National Convention (PNC), Dr. Edward Nasigri Mahama in the November 7 polls.

The public sector minister who is the PNC’s incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for Builsa-South, whiles asking the constituents to vote for his flag-bearer, also appealed to them to ensure that he is retained.

He made the call last Saturday, April 2, 2016 in the Builsa-South constituency after he was confirmed by the PNC’s national executives as its parliamentary candidate for the 2016 General Elections.

Mr. Azong was appointed in 2009 by the late Professor Evans Fiifi Atta Mills to serve as a minister in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government, a position he has since held till today under the presidency of Mr. John Dramani Mahama.

But the PNC MP who was incensed by the fact that, the NDC has elected his own cousin, a Presidential Staffer, Dr. Clement Apaak to contest him, charged the sparse gathering to vote out President Mahama from office and bring in Dr. Edward Mahama.

According to sources close to him, he could not understand why President Mahama should allow such a thing to happen in the first place when “I’m a member of his (President Mahama) government”.

And this is against what has become a cliché in Ghana politics, “ skirt and blouse” when candidates, especially those in different political parties but serving in the ruling government ask their followers to vote the parliamentary election for them whiles they vote the presidential one for the ruling party.

“This game of politics is scratch my back and I also scratch yours but I think the NDC has gotten it wrong and that, it will dearly pay for it”, Mr. Azong was alleged to have told a confidante shortly after his acceptance speech on that Saturday.

According to him, the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) did it for Freddie Blay and Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom when they stood on the tickets of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) for the Ellembele and Komenda Edina Eguafo Abirem (KEEA) constituencies in the Western and Central regions respectively during President Kufuor’s administration in 2004 when the two served with the then government, which he said made the NPP not to contest those seats but instead, supported them.

The source said, he contended that, if the NPP did it for the two CPP members at that time “why can’t the NDC government which I’m a current serving minister do same for me by throwing its support behind me”.

Meanwhile this paper can report that, his call on the Builsa-South constituents to vote for his party’s flag-bearer whiles still serving in the NDC government has incurred the wrath of some members of the NDC in the constituency, thereby calling on President Mahama to, as a matter of urgency, sack him from his government.

The angry NDC members who spoke to this reporter described the action(s) of the PNC’s MP as “betrayal of the highest order” and appealed to the President not to tolerate such a character in his government.

You can’t work at Unilever and expect at the end of the month to be paid by Guinness Ghana Limited. It is never done anywhere. We (NDC) cannot take care of him for him to go out and campaign against us at the end of the day. Never! ”, the NDC members who were boiling with anger told this reporter.

Earlier the PNC’s flag-bearer, after confirming the candidature of Mr. Azong made allusion to the fact that among all President Mahama’s ministers it is only the PNC’s man who is incorruptible, claiming that “no corruption charges have so far been found against him.