The founder and leader of the United Renaissance Party (URP), Mr. Charles Kofi Wayo, has taken Dr. Obed Yao Asamoah, a former national chairman of the National Democratic Freedom Party (DFP), to the cleaners, saying that ageing has erased from his memory of a lot of things.“For me, age is catching up with Obed and he is therefore not abreast with what is happening in the country. Again, I think that Obed has been out of politics and job for too long and therefore is broke and must therefore appease somebody to get something small,” Kofi Wayo added.
Mr. Wayo was responding to comments made by Dr. Asamoah, Wednesday this week, contending that Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, wife of former President Rawlings, is more qualified to lead the National Democratic Congress (NDC) than President Mills because she has contributed more to the development of the NDC than the sitting president.
Dr. Asamoah also accused former President Rawlings of betraying him and not lobbying then Candidate Mills to select him as his black market.Mr. Wayo, popularly known as ‘Chuck.’ told The Enquirer newspaper yesterday evening via phone that Dr. Asamoah has no moral justification to make such a statement at all. “What is this old man talking about; is he not aware that Ghana has a president who thinks about the people?” He quibbled.
Dr. Asamoah, on that platform, said that Mrs. Rawlings’ role in Ghanaian politics and the NDC’s political development has been crucial to the sustenance of the party. However, Mr. Wayo says that Dr. Asamoah has always been selfish and had never appreciated the good efforts of other people. “He might have his own problems with President Mills but as for this one he has goofed big time,” he added.
He told The Enquirer that Dr. Asamoah has always had his personal interest above everything else when he as was in active politics. “Throughout his active political days he never spoke about the plight of ordinary Ghana, but was always thinking about himself,” he said.
Mr. Wayo, who doubles as a businessman who has never hidden his admiration for President Mills’ administration, said that it would be crucial for Dr. Asamoah to get somebody who would brief him constantly on what is happening in Ghana. “It is very important for somebody to tell Dr. Asamoah that Ghana now has a President who is not extravagant but thinks of the people,” he said.
He said that the President may not be extremely perfect, but he has demonstrated that he is in to serve the people and not to amass wealth.Dr. Asamoah, the immediate past National Chairman of the NDC, under whose bed some huge amount of money believed to belong to the party allegedly vanished, told Adom FM, and Accra radio station, that former President Rawlings could not have been the founder of the NDC.
He explained that at the time the NDC was formed, Mr. Rawlings was still in the army and under the 1992 Constitution he could not be the founder of the party, saying “So he was not the founder of the party. In fact his name being linked with the founding of the party did not arise until later.”
Dr. Asamoah, whose DFP is not making any incursions in the political landscape, said that he fell out with ex-President Rawlings because the former president did not like the idea of another person standing against Mills, as he chose to support Dr. Kwesi Botchwey, a former Minister of Finance, who contested for the NDC presidential ticket with Prof. Mills and two others.
Dr. Asamoah, who spoke on wide range of issues in that interview with Adom FM, made a quick U-turn and commended President Mills for managing the economy well “under difficult conditions” but pointed out that the macro- economic stability was not reflecting in the pockets of Ghanaians.He added that President Mills should be given time to complete his projects, saying “Let’s wait until after four years to see if we can qualify him (President Mills) as a failure.”
