The reconciliation between Obed Asamoah, Chairman of the NDC and Jerry Rawlings, ex-President and founder of the party has been welcome as refreshing news by the rank and file of the party.
The reconciliation move, however leaves two leading members of the NDC, Ekow Spio Garbrah and Tony Aidoo in limbo. Spio-Garbrah and Tony Aidoo have been the greatest and fiercest critics of Obed Asamoah. They have called him all sorts of names. Tony Aidoo recently said a few weeks ago that “Obed Asamoah’s chairmanship has emasculated the party and completely immobilized the party machinery.” Tony Aidoo, in particular is believed to have been fighting Jerry’s battles. But now that Jerry himself is reconciled to Obed Asamoah, Spio Garbrah and Tony Aidoo are hard pressed to go along with their master.
Their pride, however, will not allow them to make reconciliatory moves towards their chairman. In a move calculated at thrusting himself into the reconciliation move between Obed and Jerry, Spio Garbrah has signed a statement on behalf of Prof. Evans Atta Mills, lauding the reconciliation move. The statement said that “the news of the cordial interaction between the two party leaders has brought a sense of relief to all members of the party”.
Indeed, when “The Statesman” contacted Spio Garbrah, he reiterated that the statement he signed on behalf of Atta Mills also mirrors his position. Asked whether he would make a personal move towards reconciling with Obed, Spio-Garbrah laughed and asked: “What form is that move supposed to take? Asked further whether he has spoken to Obed lately, he answered in the negative, but said, “I am not a member of the National Executive Committee (NEC), where I would have met with him. “Spio-Garbrah, however, expressed the interest to be reconciled to Obed.
In his view, reconciliation by all the party’s fending factions is necessary for the forward march of the party. When Obed Asamoah was contacted, he said: “Well, once I am reconciled with the founder, the rest of the other differences will sort themselves out.” Obed, however, expressed joy at the fact that he is completely reconciled with Jerry Rawlings. “You can see our opponents are shivering. They know with unity, we can easily get them out of power in 2004.”
