Mills can’t ‘huna huna’ us! - Dan Botwe

THE MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT (MP) for Okere in the Eastern Region and former Minister of Information in the erstwhile NPP administration, Dan Kweku Botwe, has questioned the rationale behind President Mills’ uncharacteristic outburst last week to the effect that there is but one president of the country and has replied that the NPP cannot in any way be intimidated through such spontaneous acts of the president.

Speaking on Peace FM’s Kokrokoo morning show last Friday as a panelist, the NPP former General Secretary popularly known as ‘General’ said by the nature of the opposition Danquah/Busia ideologists, they refuse to budge to such tactics suddenly being adopted by the president and noted that the minority is committed to pursuing its constitutional responsibility of putting government on its toes to make sure the good people of this country are well catered for by the state, no matter the cost to their lives.

President John Evans Atta Mills, in an uncharacteristic tough language, last Tuesday cautioned against what he termed as acts of national detraction and pledged to allow the law to deal with such acts to the letter.

He claimed that despite being resolute in his belief to be civil to all Ghanaians, the rule of law and due process would be adhered to and cautioned that no one should take his respect for peaceful co-existence as weakness, timidity and unwillingness or inability to enforce the law.

“I’ve instructed the law enforcement agencies to apply the law to the letter,” President Mills said when addressing executives of the Ghana Journalists Association and some senior media practitioners who paid a courtesy call on him at the Castle, Osu.

The GJA called on the President to assure him of the co-operation of the media with Government to promote its better Ghana agenda.

The President told Ghanaians that despite the dislike by some people on his assumption to political power, his victory was the verdict of the electorate in last December general elections and that Ghanaians also installed his Government, which all must accept.

He also cautioned that a section of Ghanaians must not decide that they had the divine right to rule the nation and expect the law to be twisted in their favour.

However, the motivation and reasons for the President’s flare-up continue to evade many a Ghanaian as political analysts and social commentators continue to speculate as to what caused the ‘Asomdwie Hene’ to go over-drive.

But Hon. Dan Botwe insists that it would be “illogical” on the part of the President if his harsh words were as a result of the rousing welcome supporters of the opposition NPP gave their flagbearer in last December’s general elections at the Kotoka International Airport on his arrival from an European tour recently.

Another possible but irrational reason that ‘General’ refused to allude President Mills’ strange reaction to was the recent press conference organized by the Minority in Parliament that called on the Government to sit up concerning what they described as recent upsurge in crime rate, insecurity and selective justice under the current Mills-led NDC administration.

The NPP minority called on President Mills to use his powers to restore sanity in the country failure of which would compel the NPP to advise themselves.

Dan Botwe said what the Minority did was to call on the President to use his powers to ensure there was some sanity in the country and that people could wake up peacefully and go about their normal businesses without hindrance of any sort.

The Okere MP said what the Minority said could not have in any way prompted the President to come out the way he did and advised President Mills to rather direct his concerns to his former boss, Jerry Rawlings, whom he suggested, has sought to question the President’s authority by countering some of the President’s actions and inactions. Mr. Botwe cited former president Rawlings’ recent assertion that he (Mills) was a weak leader and also his (Rawlings) call on President Mills to sack all District Chief Executives (DCEs) in the country when the latter had issued a directive through his spokesperson to the effect that all DCEs at the time should remain in office till further notice.

He also referred to Mr. Rawlings’ call on the current president to retire all senior officers in the state’s security agencies which President Mills somehow complied with as proof of interference in Mills’ powers by the first NDC president of the republic.

The former Information Minister argued that it was rather the aforementioned actions and several others of former president Rawlings that have sought to question the powers and authority vested in the President by the 1992 Constitution and therefore called on the President to call spade a spade by publicly directing his outbursts to his former boss rather than spewing his anger and venom on innocent Ghanaians whose plights are nothing to write home about.

Mr. Dan Botwe reminded the President of his own numerous campaign promises to the good people of the country and urged him to rather focus on government business to make sure his administration is able to meet all those promises, adding that four years was not any long period and that Ghanaians would judge him according to their