Plot to dump Mills for Konadu thickens

Credible reports reaching The Chronicle from Tamale indicate that former President Rawlings last Saturday met 15 cadres at the Sundowner Hotel in Tamale, to plot on how best to promote Nana Konadu’s desire to become president of Ghana.

According to intelligence reports, the meeting, which started at about 10.30 a.m. at the hotel, was attended by Mr. Nuamah Donkor, former Minister of Health under Rawlings’ regime, Mr. Hebert Mensah, a football administrator and politician, Alhaji Ibrahim Adams, and Mr. Gilbert Idi.

Apart from Konadu’s agenda, the meeting also discussed how the cadres could put out candidates to contest constituency primaries when nominations are opened, to unseat members of parliament (MPs) perceived as President Mills’ surrogates.

Mr. Rawlings, who spoke extensively at the meeting, which was held behind closed-doors, did not, as usual, spare the President and his ministers insults.

He used words such as greedy bastards, stupid fools, empty heads and money-grabbing whores among other unprintable words against the ministers of state.

Mr. Rawlings did not spare the Ahwoi brothers, who he considered as close advisers and confidants of President Mills, describing them as political businessmen, thieves, and rogues.

The former military dictator was also not happy with Ms. Hannah Tetteh, Minister of Trade and Industry, on how she was handling the Destination Inspection Companies case.

After Hannah had gone off the radar, Mr. Rawlings turned his attention on the MP for Tamale South and Minister of Communications, Mr. Haruna Iddrisu.

He vowed that he, together with the cadres, would do everything possible within their power to make sure that Haruna did not enter parliament in the next elections.

Mad. Sherry Aryittey, one-time close pal of the former first family, now the Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, was also at the receiving end of insults.

This paper gathered that the former capo of the 31st December Movement had been dumped by the former family, as they failed to attend her mother’s funeral last weekend.

Mr. Kofi Totobi Quakyi, Board Chairman of the National Communications Authority (NCA), was also not spared.

He was verbally attacked and accused of feeding some young generations of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) with wrong information.

Nii Lantey Vanderpuije, Special Aide to President Mills, in charge of operations, was also described as an arrogant fool, receiving direction and strength from Mr. Totobi Quakyi, who Mr. Rawlings labeled as a nobody, until he plucked him up from obscurity.

Mr. Ludwig Akpene Hlordze, who was recently lambasted by the NDC founder, got his fair share, and was described as a ‘stupid bastard.’

Mr. Koku Anyidoho, Head of Communications at the Presidency, together with Mr. Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, were tagged as pompous and arrogant.

Mr. Paul Victor Obeng, Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Capt Kojo Tsikata (rtd), Chairman of the Council of State, Prof. Kofi Awoonor, and others, were not left out of the insults spree by the NDC founder.

Some of the above names, who were contacted by The Chronicle, confirmed that they had been briefed about Mr. Rawlings’ vituperations in Tamale, but declined to comment.

“We have served Rawlings for so many years, and if this is how he is going to reward us, some of us have nothing to say,” one of them told this reporter.