Rawlings Accuses Mills Of Stealing Oil Money

THE Spokesperson for the former First Couple, Mr Jerry John Rawlings and Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, have accused the administration of President John Atta Mills of dipping their hands into Ghana's oil revenues.

In an interview with the New York-based Bloomberg, the world's reputable source for business news, Kofi Adams, who is also the Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress made it clear that one of the reasons that have motivated the former First Lady to launch an unprecedented campaign to challenge President Mills’ second term bid is corruption.

Former President Rawlings, who is also the founder of the ruling NDC, had earlier said that 'corruption has been institutionalized" under President Mills.

According to Kofi Adams, "If elected, Agyeman Rawlings will seek to prosecute corruption in the country’s oil industry." Among the charges against the Mills-Mahama administration from Mr Rawlings, according to our sources, are to do with illegal multi-million profits allegedly made from certain persons by selling off Ghana's consignment of crude oil on the high seas, as the Tema Oil Refinery is starved of crude oil to refine.

Apart from allegations to do with the lifting of oil, there are also others to do with the signing of agreements to do with Ghana's oil and gas production. Concerns have been raised over the decision to award the contract to build a single gas pipeline from the Jubilee Fields to a planned gas processing plant onshore to at least two companies, at an estimated double the price of construction if one company were to have done it.

"It is because there is this rush for oil deals and the President has lost control of the situation, allowing the greedy bastards to have a field day with their thievery" a senior source in the NDC told the New Statesman.

Institutionalization of Corruption One of the calls by the pro-Konadu is for the election of a new leader who has not been tainted by corruption and according to them Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings is that leader. There is a strong feeling within the ruling NDC that President Mills has not been able to give them the kind of leadership they were expecting.

In their opinion, President Mills had become a liability to the electoral fortunes of the NDC in 2012 as he has clearly departed from the NDC’s mantra of upholding the principles of probity and accountability

The former president has on numerous occasions stated that President John Atta-Mills is condoning corrupt practices within the NDC and this has led to the instituionalisation of corruption in the country.

In a statement released on the 21st of October 2010, the former President stated: “Do I have a problem with President Mills? Yes, I do. His refusal to pursue the moral mandate of the people - to reinstate truth, transparency and most of all justice into the fabric and psyche of the nation.

This is leading to the institutionalisation of crime and corruption. Justice will be deformed”.

A group calling itself “The Concerned Youth of NDC” has also craved on the indulgence of President John Atta Mills, in several publications, to humbly take a second look at his questionable political career and quit politics by not seeking a second term in office for the sake of “our great party” [NDC].

The group, in its latest press statement released on 6th April 2011, stated that the very promise to crack the whip was a huge campaign promise by the President.

“But as of today, there have been a number of unsuccessful prosecutions of the alleged corrupt officials under the Kufour Administration. Why? In the name of “Father for All”, Ghanaians and the NDC party are gradually loosing grips on the principle of accountability which is one of the key principles underlying the formation of NDC. For how long should this prevail? For how long should we continue with these acts of maladroitness and incompetence?” the group charged.

According to them, “we undoubtedly believe that the future of NDC will be salvaged and the paramount good of all will be achieved if President Atta Mills takes a second look at his political career and finally takes a political shower.”

Full Story as carried by Bloomberg Ghana Ex-First Lady to Challenge President Mills in Primary

Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, wife of Ghana’s former President Jerry Rawlings, will challenge incumbent President John Atta Mills in a July primary to become the ruling party’s candidate in the 2012 presidential election, Kofi Adams, a spokesman for the Rawlings, said.

“The level of apathy in the party is high,” Adams said in an interview today.

The challenge from Agyeman-Rawlings, 62, whose husband stepped down in 2001 after two decades leading the world’s second-biggest cocoa producer, will complicate the re-election efforts of 66-year-old Mills, said Aboramapah Mensah, a program officer with the Accra-based Ghana Center for Democratic Development.

“She will command a lot of followers,” Mensah said in an interview from Accra. “Though Mills enjoys the incumbent’s advantage and will be able to tour the country to rally his supporters, the former president’s family also commands strong support.”

Mills, a member of the National Democratic Congress party founded by Rawlings, was vice president under the former leader from 1997 to 2001. Mills lost presidential elections in 2000 and 2004 to John Kufuor of the New Patriotic Party before beating the NPP’s Nana Akufo-Addo in 2008 in a runoff decided by less than 1 percent of the vote.

Corruption If elected, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings will seek to prosecute corruption in the country’s oil industry and may try to renegotiate a $1.5 billion agreement with South Korea’s STX Corp. to build 30,000 houses for the country’s security services, Adams said.

Koku Anyidoho, a spokesman for Mills, declined to comment when contacted on his mobile phone.

Rawlings may tap latent support for her husband within the party as well as utilize her 31 December Women’s Movement, which operates agricultural projects and nursery schools across the country, to challenge Mills, Mensah said. The organization has 1 million dues-paying members of voting age, according to its website.

The NDC will choose its candidate for the December 2012 presidential poll on July 8 at a party congress, where about 1,000 party officials will choose the nominee, Mensah said.

Agyeman Rawlings’s bid shows “there is a strong feeling” that Mills “hasn’t been able to give the leadership that was expected,” said Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko. “Whether he manages to sail through the storm, I think the damage will be difficult to repair.”