Today in 2008: ‘Akufo-Addo's children are not his’ – Nana Konadu

Former First lady of the Republic, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings on December 3, 2008 alleged that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is not the biological father of his four children.

She made this claim eleven years ago at Bibiani during her Western Regional campaign tour.

The allegations did not go down well with some members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and in retaliation to the above-mentioned, the then acting Western Regional Women’s Organiser of NPP, Naana Amoah also took a swipe on the former First Lady.

She called on the former first lady to exhibit good manners instead of making uncalled for remarks against her political opponents to win Ghanaians to her side.

Naana Amoah revealed that the campaign messages of Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings were not issue-based or messages that tend to address the needs of Ghanaians but rather, attacking personalities of the then ruling party, NPP.

Read the full story originally published on December 3, 2008, on Ghanaweb

The former First Lady has lunged at the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, adding to her party’s accusations of him as someone who does not possess a law qualification, but this time adding a more serious charge - that his daughters are not his.

Her voice, which was captured on tape, also continued with her allegations against the NPP leadership, particularly Nana Addo, at Bibiani, which were then relayed on radio stations in areas she toured in the Western Region.

Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings plunged into issues of the economy and indicated that things had degenerated, yet the NPP was proclaiming they had managed the economy well.

Mrs. Rawlings noted that the rural poor in the country were not experiencing it, as the economy had not been friendly to them, and many Ghanaians were still complaining about hunger and poverty. Consequently, she urged the people in that constituency, to vote against the NPP, come December 7.

The acting Western Regional Women’s Organiser of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Naana Amoah, has also taken on the former First Lady, urging her to conduct her campaigns with civility to avoid embarrassing comments from her political opponents. According to her, the campaign messages being used by the former First Lady on platforms were not issues-based, but attacks on personalities.

At Shama, in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis, where the NDC is knocking hard to make political gains, because of the absorption of the Reform Party, which had consistently fielded Ms. Emelia Arthur as its parliamentary candidate, but failed to contest this year and had joined the NDC, the NDC Founder’s wife unleashed a series of attacks on the NPP.

In Bibiani, Nana Kwarteng, a journalist in the constituency, who was contacted by this reporter for confirmation, affirmed that Konadu had emptied vituperations at the rally grounds against the NPP, which was being replayed on the radio stations. The former First Lady had been saying that Nana Addo was not the biological father of his children. Nana Kwarteng also confirmed to The Chronicle that the former first lady’s voice was captured on tape, and was being played repeatedly on air in the Sekondi Takoradi metropolis, especially by Kyzz 89.7 FM.

Interestingly, many political observers in the region have said that the utterances of the former first lady would not have any effect on the peace process of the country. Rather, they also believed her comments had the potential of creating more tension between the two leading political parties.

Just last week at Sekondi, when the NPP had its southern sector regional rally, Madam Grace Omaboe, a television presenter, had to explain issues, refuting the many allegations levelled against the hierarchy of the NPP, to the thousands of electorate that had gathered at the rally grounds. She revealed, at the rally grounds, that when she was once with the NDC, before defecting to the NPP, where they were taught to lie about the NPP, and tutored on writing false messages to be presented at public functions, to embarrass the leadership of the NPP.

She warned the electorate to be wary of what the NDC was capable of doing if given the chance. Mrs. Rawlings again reiterated her party’s argument that the President and his former Foreign Affairs Minister, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, both qualified lawyers and members of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA), were not lawyers.