Defence Of Kofi Adams

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I usually don’t like engaging in media banter with people from my party. However an article which appeared on Ghana Web and subsequently published in a number of newspapers about two weeks ago about Mr. Kofi Adams’ purported attempt to arm twist the Electoral Commission into transferring his vote to the Buem Constituency so he could contest the seat following the death of the Member of Parliament (who was also the Volta Regional Minister) Henry Kamel Ford has compelled me to react against my own.

The publication which was written by one Margaret Jackson sought to paint Mr. Adams as a crook who was ready to engage in under hand dealings just to be a Member of Parliament for that constituency. Not only are the assertions by the writer false but ridiculous as well.

One would have thought after he was disqualified by a vindictive executive led by Mr. Johnson Asiedu Nketia, Mr Adams would be left alone. But no! Some leading members of the party have decided to embark on a vendetta to destroy Mr. Adams because they see him as a threat to their selfish and egoistic ambition.

Others have also decided to that it was time to exact their pound of flesh over his work in explaining his boss the former President Rawlings’ reasons for criticizing the late President Mills’ administrative style hence their destructive onslaught on Mr.Adams.

The writer sought to create the impression that Mr. Adams got swollen headed following publications by a youth group’s call on him to contest the seat and therefore decided to do so. I wish to state that the youth group that made the call are made up of young professionals from all the communities that constitute the constituency (which also happens to be a traditional area as well) who have the development of the constituency at heart.

Taking into consideration that the party’s fortunes in the constituency was dwindling (it recorded the lowest turnout of 66 per cent in the region), we the youth decided to look for a candidate who is endowed with generic leadership qualities namely humility, integrity and fairness which every good leader needs to be able to succeed.

We also decided to look for someone who will be a servant leader, who will orient himself towards the needs of others and taps from the power that comes from that purpose. We were looking for someone who has vision as to where he wants to send the constituency and inspire the citizenry to work hard to improve their living standards but to also market the various natural resources as well as opportunities in the constituency to the international community.

We decided on Mr. Adams because we trusted him to facilitate the implementation of the Better Ghana Agenda which the whole country has approved by electing President Mahama and we knew he will be able to accomplish because he has a mental image of where the constituents want to go and through that image completely transform the constituency.

It took a lot of persuasion to convince Mr. Adams to agree to contest the seat albeit reluctantly. According to him he wanted to take a backseat and assist the party at the constituency as he has been doing but we the youth who have the progress of the constituency at heart impressed upon him to accept to contest albeit reluctantly. But for his disqualification he would have won the primaries hands down.

Therefore the assertion by the writer that Mr. Adams decided to contest for self –aggrandizement is false. Rather he decided to contest because he wanted to bring development to the doorstep of the people.

The writer then went ahead to claim that Mr. Adams then sent emissaries to the Electoral Commission to transfer his vote to the constituency to enable contest the seat. The EC however refused to do so prompting Mr. Adams to resort to arm-twisting the EC into doing his bidding.

Not only did the writer goof but has also exposed his ignorance about electoral process to the whole world. I am stating this because during bye elections any contesting candidate can transfer his vote to that electoral area provided he hails from that constituency. In fact Mr. Adams himself went to the EC to request for the transfer and he was told the request should be done at the District office which he did.

As at the time of writing this piece Mr. Adams has been able to transfer his vote to the Buem constituency. It is significant to note that one of the candidates who contested the primaries also went through the same process and was able to successfully transfer her vote to the constituency. One can therefore state that Margaret’s attempt to paint Mr. Adams black has backfired.

Mr. Adams enjoyed so much support from the chiefs and people of the constituency to the extent that when news about his disqualification got to them a number of them quickly call on him to contest as an independent candidate. He would have won the seat hands down if he were to listen to the calls by the chiefs and people of the constituency.

But committed as he is, he decided not to contest. So angry were the people that an irate party member who could not tolerate the raw treatment meted out to Mr. Adams decided to go to court to place an injunction on the primaries. It was the same Mr. Adams who persuaded plaintiff to withdraw the case to pave way for the primaries to be held.

On his criticism of the General Secretary I believe he was right in doing do so because Mr. Adams was betrayed by the National Executive which is headed by the General Secretary. If at the meeting held at First Choice hotel it was decided that the case before the High Court should be withdrawn for the issue to be settled amicably which he did and subsequently informed the National Executive and the Disciplinary Committee, how come six months down the line Johnson Asiedu Nketia was going round claiming that Mr. Adams decided to withdraw the case because he wanted to contest the seat.

Another question is how come Mr. Adams’ suspension was not extended officially after the first extension following his inability to appear before the Disciplinary Committee on his first invitation.

What I will like the writer to note is that Mr. Adams commitment to the party is not in doubt. In fact the few days I dealt with him made me see clearly how committed he is to the party.

It is rather unfortunate that while the President is working hard to bringing the party together as a unit, a few unscrupulous individuals who are seeking their parochial interest will want to divide the party. Such persons must be told in clear terms that they will not succeed.

In any case the two main protagonists (Ex-President Rawlings and President Mahama) have patched up and are now working together. One therefore wonders why the hangers on will continue to divide the party if not for selfish reasons.