Rawlings stripped naked as NDC crisis deepens

The much touted ‘March for Survival’ which former President Rawlings is hanging onto as a last straw to resuscitate his dying party seems to have suffered a severe setback.

The Vanguard’s Intelligence Report indicate that a group of NDC members who described themselves as loyalist of Dr Obed Yao Asamoah, have distanced themselves from the demonstration vowing that they will do everything to scuttle the demonstration.

The group recently held a secret meeting at an Adabraka low class hotel where the leader (name withheld for now) openly poured invectives against the former President. At another meeting held at the same venue (this paper’s operatives were present), it was unanimously agreed that a counter demonstration will be organised to express their anger about recent developments in the NDC, with particular reference to Rawlings’ attempt to upstage the chairman, Dr Asamoah. At the close of the meeting, a silver collection yielded 500,000 cedis which has been earmarked to fund the anti-Rawlings demonstration.

It would be recalled that ex-President Rawlings hinted at his now infamous ‘Boom IV’ press conference that the party is being cleansed and those who cannot live up to the high principles of the NDC are falling out. The door is still open for others who cannot measure up. There are plenty of dedicated people to carry on.

Just as the NPP is united by its hatred of the CPP, AFRC, PNDC, and NDC governments, so must the NDC be united by its proven vision, commitment of its members and their determination to move Ghana forward.

In April 2002 we democratically elected a new chairman of the National Executive Committee (NEC) at a national delegates’ conference. By the same process last December, we overwhelmingly elected Prof J.E. Atta Mills as our leader and flagbearer for the 2004 presidential elections.

It is my hope that we will all come together as one formidable force to support him to catapult our party back into office next year. Now that the euphoria of the extraordinary congress has died down, let us bury the hatched and marshal our forces to outset the NPP, whose ineptitude as a government is widely acknowledged in Ghana and beyond.

In a related development, the national chairman of the NDC, Dr Asamoah, has called for the role of the party’s founder in the scheme of works to be clearly defined as his continuous meddling in affairs has left the party’s flagbearer in his (Rawlings’) shadow.

He added that the founder should do more behind the scene work to create more support for the party, and indicated the need for the party’s flagbearer, Prof John Evans Atta Mills to be seen in charge of affairs. Dr Asamoah contended that the party is bigger than any personality or personalities.

The party’s flagbearer Prof Atta Mills has reacted sharply to the party chairman’s remarks saying it is rather unfair for Dr Asamoah to adopt such a position since the founder of the party has a great role to play to move the party forward and debunked the notion that ex-President Rawlings is interfering unduly in the affairs of the party.