Patch up with JJ or .....

ALHAJI BATURE TO PREZ MILLS: PATCH UP WITH RAWLINGS OR FACE THE CONSEQUENCES

The Managing Editor of the Bilingual Free Press Alhaji Bature is cautioning

the ruling National Democratic Congress will bid farewell to power if the

wrangling within the party persists. What is more, Alhaji Bature, who also

is a sympathizer of the party, says these wrangling will threaten the unity

of the party if nothing is done to solve it. ³Some of us, our motivation is

the unity and stability of the National Democracy, because we know that

without unity, the NDC is threatened. The NDC, if it loses power, is not

likely to remain a viable political party². ³I am not seeing the differences

being addressed; until those differences are addressed, I am afraid, I do

not see the NDC retaining power in 2012², Alhaji Bature warns in an

interview he had on Xfm 95.1, a privately owned commercial radios station in

Accra. His concerns are based on the fact that the while the vast experience

of former President Jerry John Rawlings will be needed in governance, he

(Ex-president Rawlings) has simply been sidelined by the government. This he

says is the root cause of the foot soldiers agitations and other wrangling

within the party; which he says is having ³a telling effect on the

government and governance². ³Look, some of the issues confronting the

government today, would not have come up if this problem was not there. This

issue of foot soldiers; if former President Rawlings was involved in the

government, can you imagine him speaking to the foot soldiers and what their

response will be? Because, they listen to him, they admire him.² ³And let me

tell you, many people joined the NDC because of their love for Rawlings, not

the ideologies. So if the founder was to be seen to be playing some roles in

government, some of these problems will not have come up², says Alhaji

Bature rather passionately. It is in this light that he is calling on the

two leaders to patch up their differences or the party risks the

consequences. He says the problem can be solved only if President John Mills

and the former first couple realize that it would be in their own interest

to have it solved. ³It is in their own interest that they shelve their

personal narrow interest and resolve the problem and come back as one big

family². He laments the fact that the problem, which could have been solved

from it teething stage was allowed to escalate into this big one that stands

to cause the NDC a second berth in government. He mildly chastised the

elders of the party who looked on almost unconcerned when the problem

started, saying ³but I can understand them, they were constrained and

handicapped. You have the Ex-President who virtually made all the council of

elders what they areŠ so most of them are unable to sit down and have a

genuine and frank discussion with him². ³So there has been a void, a vacuum,

and this is what has created this disagreement between the Ex-president and

the current President.² ³Look, I am speaking to you on authority, because I

have had the privilege to interact with both sides before the NDC even came

to power, and I saw this problem, but unfortunately, they did not have

people who could manage those problems successfully². Alhaji Bature prasied

Mills¹-led government for good governance but added that it would have been

better if both factions within the party are patched up.

Story by Abena Asiedua Tenkorang/ Xfm 95.1/ Accra/ Ghana