Former Chairman of the National Democratic Congress, Dr Yao Obed Asamoah told Prof John Evans Atta Mills (late) – during his attempts to win the presidency – that he was a "born loser", current Chairman of the NDC, Dr Kwabena Adjei has revealed for the first time, in an interview with Ibrahim Alhassan of starr FM.
“He said you are a born loser,” Dr Adjei narrated to Alhassan.
According to Dr Adjei, Dr Asamoah, who served as Attorney General in the Rawlings administration, uttered those words directly to Prof Mills – three-time presidential candidate of the NDC – after Mr Rawlings, founder of the party, chose Mr Martin Amidu as Running Mate for Prof Mills, ahead of Dr Asamoah, for the 2000 general elections.
Dr Adjei surmises that Dr Asamoah – who relished the possibility of becoming Vice presidential candidate in that particular election – got infuriated by Rawlings’ action, since Mr Amidu was his Deputy at the Attorney General’s Department when they both served under Rawlings.
Dr Asamoah, according to Dr Adjei, interpreted the selection of Amidu, ahead of him, as an insult.
“The problem was that [Obed Asamoah] transferred the kind of, if you like, perception he had about Rawlings, to my poor president and it was a very tough situation.
“So I went and told the old prof: ‘You don’t worry I’ll make you president’. And I did. I didn’t do it single-handedly. I collectivised our efforts to do it,” the former Minister in the Rawlings Administration told Alhassan.
Prof Mills lost the 2000 and 2004 elections with Amidu and Mohammed Mumuni as Running Mates respectively. He won the 2008 election with John Mahama as Running Mate.
Dr Adjei, known by his sobriquet ‘Wayo Wayo’ has been chairman of the NDC for two consecutive terms and is seeking to win a third term at the party’s forthcoming national delegates’ congress scheduled for the Ashanti regional capital, Kumasi on Saturday December 20, 2014.
