The attention of the Office of former President Jerry John Rawlings has been drawn to the banner headline of the Daily Guide newspaper of Saturday September 27, 2008 alleging that the ex-President had insulted Fantes at a public lecture organised by the NDC last Friday.
The banner headline is so far from the truth and even from the very story published by the Daily Guide.
We are convinced the Daily Guide and others of its ilk are out on a calculated plot to tag President Rawlings as a tribalist.
The thrust of what was said was that during the last presidential and parliamentary elections some polling agents had abandoned their posts ostensibly because the New Patriotic Party (NPP) had compromised them. He therefore cautioned against appointing untrustworthy agents who will sell their conscience at the last minute.
The former President also stated that having noticed that the Central Region was slipping from them the NPP in 2004 was compelled to send President Kufuor there for a three-day tour during which he distributed money ostensibly to woo votes.
It is absolutely incomprehensible for a reporter who works for the Daily Guide to attempt to pass commentary on a news story and state that President Rawlings insulted the people of the Central Region.
The story does not miss out on the basic facts of what was said. Why the newspaper chose to impute that President Rawlings insulted Fantes is bizarre and very typical of NPP sponsored media who are having a field day abusing and libelling members of the opposition with impunity.
The Daily Graphic publication of the same day does better justice to what actually took place at the lecture. The report was also covered by the major television stations and aired on their networks, but in the newsroom of the Daily Guide something different developed.
The former President has a style and charisma which is beyond compare in the current political climate and there is no doubt that his popularity continues to be a matter of serious concern for the NPP and its cohorts who have repeatedly attempted to twist and misrepresent his statements at will.
During his long tenure as President of Ghana the Central Region was one of President Rawlings’ strongholds. Attempting to hit his head against that region is an exercise in futility and an action that will backfire right in the face of those who now use journalism as a propaganda tool for their darling political parties.
The people of the Central Region are discerning enough and such vicious misrepresentation of facts will be exposed come December 7, 2008.
