Spio-Garbrah Would Have Fared Better Than Konadu – Ben Ephson

Managing Editor of the Daily Dispatch newspaper, Ben Ephson has urged President John Evans Atta Mills to extend a hand of unity to all the factions within the NDC. According to him, for the NDC to be able to face off with the New Patriotic Party (NPP) which is a very formidable party, it is incumbent on the NDC to put their differences behind them and work together as a team.

He was sharing his thoughts on the just ended National Delegates’ Congress in Sunyani which saw the election again of President Mills as the party’s flagbearer for the 2012 General Elections.

Mrs. Rawlings was given a sound thrashing when she managed to poll a paltry 90 votes out of the nearly 3000 votes cast, representing just 3.1%.

Mr. Ephson, who prior to the contest promised to present a bouquet of flowers to the former First Lady should she get even 30% of delegates’ votes, told Kwami Sefa Kayi in an interview on PeaceFM that President Mills will need everybody’s support to pull through in 2012. “Mills has a lot of work to do; he must extend a hand of unity because NPP is a formidable party.

If he extends the hand and they do not accept it, I’m sure others will see he made an effort. You cannot say that someone had 3% so she can be ignored; everyone is important. Besides when that hand is extended, the Konadu supporters will ask themselves whether they are better off under Mills or they will be better off under Akufo Addo,” he noted.

He cautioned against taking the votes Nana Konadu gained as insignificant. “People might think Konadu’s 3% is not a big deal but if each of the 3% has 10 or 20 supporters who are not delegates not forgetting that the difference in the 2008 general election after Tain was 40,000, the party will need that. The people in the grassroots did not have the opportunity vote so if it is 3% against Mills, we can also assume that 3% of the grass roots would have wanted Konadu and that will be a lot. Once they see that and they come on board, it will help,” he analyzed.

The renowned pollster however opined that one-time NDC flagbearer aspirant, Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah would have fared far better than Konadu if he had contested, stressing that the delegates perhaps voted bearing in mind the person who easily appeals to floating voters. “President Mills would have still won if the NDC’s Electoral College was as big as that of the NPP but not with a wider margin if the Rawlingses had supported somebody else than Nana Konadu,” he added.