On the 30 November, 2010 on the usual Saturday Morning Show hosted by Deacon Quayson Kay on the leading Ghanaian Radio station in the Netherlands, Mr. John MacNally-Boateng the Public Relations Officer of the NDC Amsterdam broke a sad news that shocked listeners especially members, supporters and sympathiers of the NDC Party. According to John MacNally-Boateng there is this information circulating in the Netherlands that a petition from the NDC Amsterdam branch Foot soldiers has been presented to the President His Excellency John Evans Atta-Mills. He contacted Mr. Kwame Acheremu, the General Secretary to find out about the Petition only to be told that the branch has no record of the Petition. Immediately John MacNally-Boateng said he called John Vianney the coordinator of the Petition to demand a copy of the Petition for the branch. John Vianney told him that he had already provided a copy to the branch through the chairman Mr. Pat Dodge and that there is no way he could provide him with a copy, he also added that it was the Chairman Mr. Pat Dodge who drove him to the Emabssy to do the presentation. John MacNally-Boateng said that he was then compelled to contact the Vice Chairman Mr. P.A.S .Quarshie only to be told that the branch has no record of the Petition. Then Mr. John MacNally-Boateng decided to contact the Mr Pat Dogbe who is Ghana at the moment for the Petition.
Then last saturday, 6 november 2010 Mr. John Vianney appeared on the Spirit Fm Morning Show programme to expalin the ration behind the Petition to the President. Before the programme began the Host of the Morning show, Deacon Quayson Kay presented Mr. John MacNally-Boateng with a copy of the Petition. The PRO of Amsterdam branch thanked the host for furnishing the NDC Amsterdam branch with a copy of the Petition. He said the recent activies of some foot soldiers is fast distroying the image of the NDC party. He stressed that he is not aware of any Diaspora Foot soldiers movement here in the Netherlands and was even shocked to the core when he recieved the information that it was Mr. Pat Dobge the chairman of NDC Amsterdam branch who drove Mr. John Vianney to the Embassy to do the presentation without informing even the branch executives. Now most members suspect that the chairman Mr. Pat Dobge is the main person behind the Petition, because all this while he has kept the Petition away from the entire executives and the astonishing role he played by driving Mr. John Vianney to the Embassy for the presentation of the Petition. Members are not only angry with Mr. Pat Dogbe because of the Petition which tends to undermine the admnistration of His Excellency John Evans Atta-Mills but also the damaged that he has done to the NDC Amsterdam branch. The angered members are said to be waiting patiently to see how the executives will react to this unfortunate event. Below is a copy of the Petition that was presented to the President.
PETITION TO H. E. PROFESSOR JOHN EVANS ATTA MILLS PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF GHANA BY THE DIASPORAN FOOT SOLDIERS OF THE NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS NDC - HOLLAND BRANCH We, the members of the Diasporan Foot Soldiers (DFS) of the National Democratic Congress, Holland Branch, are deeply concerned about the intra party wrangling and rebuttals that seem to have engaged all well meaning members of the party. We are particularly disturbed if not discouraged about the trading of insults between the Castle (Government) and the Party, invariably dividing the party into two. In other words the party, after winning election has been divided; with the party having its say and those forming the Government led by Your Excellency, having your way. As a result, we have observed with a lot of disappointment the utterances of some of your appointees; they literally insult the Founder of the party and former President, H. E. Jerry John Rawlings. We wish to draw your attention to a Vietnamese proverb on gratitude which says that when eating a fruit, you should remember the one who planted the tree. Why do we have some of your appointees who should be grateful to the man whose efforts they are directly enjoying act injudiciously? We hesitate to think they have your blessing. Your Excellency, we of the DFS of Holland find the actions and inactions of your government and the ramifications thereafter very dangerous and could spell doom for our dear party as well as your government. We therefore think enough is enough and ALL must cease fire NOW. We wish to draw your attention to some pertinent issues: a) the concerns of the Former President H. E. Jerry John Rawlings, who in our view should be your official and unofficial Chief Advisor, should be addressed.
b) the concerns of all Ghanaians as well as those of the Foot Soldiers of the party, through whom the party won the 2008 Elections, deserve immediate attention.
C) the utterances of some of your appointees when asked to comment on issues and concerns raised by some party members especially those of the Former President leave much to be desired.
In light of this, we the DFS would like to make the following suggestions for your consideration so as to bring some sanity to both your government on one hand and the party on the other hand: 1. we suggest you release all your appointees who hold National Executive positions for them to concentrate on the party.
2. that if you appoint a few more young men and women perceived to be “Rawlings Boys/Girls” into the Government the tension could be greatly reduced if not eliminated.
3. we also wish to suggest that some appointees be shown the exit, particularly those whose misguided comments are embarrassing both the government and the party.
4. we suggest that you make efforts to develop a rapport with the two Former Presidents especially the Founder of our great party- H. E. Jerry John Rawlings.
5. furthermore, we wish to suggest that ALL of us adhere to the tenets of our party constitution.
6. it is our belief that a regular visit to party offices by your outfit would also raise the morale of we the Foot Soldiers and also enable you to keep in touch with the party. Your Excellency, we the DFS pledge our unflinching support to your government and wish to add that you can count on us anytime as long as the party is united and given its due position in your government. Let us develop mutual trust and redirect our efforts to delivering on our campaign promises as stated in our manifesto, for United we stand Divided we fall. Long Live Ghana Long Live the NDC Yours sincerely,
John Vianney Coordinator THROUGH H. E. Mrs. Aanaa N. Enin Ghana’s Ambassador The Netherlands Cc; 1. H. E. Jerry John Rawlings Founder
2. H. E. John Dramani Mahama Vice President
3. Hon. Cletus Avoka Majority Leader
2. Hon. Dr. Kwabena Adjei National Chairman
3. Hon. Kofi Attor Director – International Affairs
4. Hon. Patrick S. Dogbe Chairman – Holland NDC
Contact: 0031 (0) 649 294 500 jmvkuubaea@gmail.com
source: Bature Musa Amsterdam baturemusa@hotmail.com
