Konadu Rawlings Atra Po

From: Stephen A.Quaye, Toronto-Canada.

A guy in Koforidua one time was arrested for having a carnal knowledge of his sister and put before court to answer charges of raping his own sister. Standing right before the court the judge asked the victim,” so when you saw him advancing towards you, you did not ask him to stop?”

The victim answered saying,” my lord, when I saw him attempting to touch me wrongly, I asked him to stop and that I am his sisters and could not do that to me.

Do you hear your sister asking you to stop the judge asked the accuse who said my lord I heard her asking me to stop and what happened the judge to turn to the victim again.

“My lord when I asked him to stop, he refused and said oh sister “gyae na atra po” which created a big laughter in the whole court room among sizable members of the community who have come to hear the case.

After the whole court room has been quiet, the judge asked the accuse what “atra po” means which he fumbled to explain which probably means he has gone beyond the line where he could rescind his decision of carrying out that diabolic act.

It is interesting to find out how many people are disturbing the former first lady by putting impediments on her way to stop her from exercising her democratic rights by going through election to serve the country in a higher position in the land.

Why should she be stopped from contesting the sitting president in presidential primaries?

I do not agree with those who are calling for her back out bid. It is her right to seek election in whatever position she wants except that the constitution in a way bars her from doing so otherwise I do not see why she should be prevented from doing so.

Let the legal brains in the country tells us whether what she is seeking to do is not healthy for democratic dispensation of the country Ghana. She has not attempted to cite any group against the party executives or the government in anyway at all.

She realized that for her to get the position must go through the mill by getting elected by the party’s delegates which she has been following and can be said to be recommendable so what is the NDC party’s headache about this woman exercising her ambition? If one listens to the reasons alluding to the call on her to back out from contesting the incumbent president as the camp of President Atta Mills gurus have always been saying, is just for president Mills to enjoy his eight years on the seat which is senseless to me. Why? No one is preventing the president from ruling the country for another four years only if he goes to the congress and the delegates re-elects him to hold the party’s ticket to the 2012 general elections as the NDC will be contesting against the NPP already elected flag bearer Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo Addo.

This is what the party in power NDC is planning to do come July 9, 2011 as it prepares itself for the contest next year. It should be made clear that it will not sound democratic if few members of the party calling themselves council of elders; party executives as well as traditional authorities insist that Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings back out from the contest in order to make president Atta Mills unopposed.

How will one be able to describe the selection of the presidential candidate for the next election free and air if a few members decision supersedes that of the entire electorates? On the ground it is clear that members of the party are not all followers of president Atta Mills alone.

There are also a sizable number of members of the NDC who are serious carrying the ideals of the former president and his wife and think must be supported to clinch that higher position on the land by going through the mill as she is currently doing. Leaders of the party must know by now that it is dangerous preventing Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings from contesting the presidential primary since by so doing will create misunderstanding among the entire party membership.

How do you think those following Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings will feel if their leader is prevented from contesting the primary to test her chances on a mere reason that the incumbent president must not be challenged? Your answer is as good as my. It will create a serious voter apathy among members who have swore to keep the party in power by working hard and even extra hard come the next election.

Possible repeat of the made in Ghana voting style of “skirt and blouse” to be exercised in the elections by the party faithful to express their dislike about the way the selection of the party flag bearer was elected as it was first done in 2000 elections because of the way former president Rawlings rubbished primary and declared Atta Mills at Swedro.

No one thought about it and I believe not even former president Rawlings nor did president Atta Mills either think about that the Camaraderie style of selecting a presidential candidate was going to bite them hard in a time to come like they would not have done that.

President Atta Mills was at the receiving end so he did not condemn it. Now other members want to contest him as far as the selection of a presidential candidate to lead the party in the next election has come and he is sweating.

If they want president Mills to be the party’s presidential candidate in the next election, they have to do their home work well first to win the presidential primary in an open and fair manner and then go ahead to win the general election.

Either than that, what is being carrying out as a pressure on the former first lady to back out from the contest so that the incumbent president alone can go to the next election could be described as childish and unacceptable which must be stopped.

A case of study is how the Canada Federal Election was conducted last weekend. Long before hand, series of survey conducted by competent media houses as well as agencies indicated that the people did not need elections at that time.

Not even surveys which indicated that the Conservatives were going to win majority with the Liberals being overtaken by the National Democratic Party [NDP] could convince the Liberal leader Mr. Michael Ignatief to believe that he was going to lose the election.

But what happened? Just after the election he did not just lose the election but lost his party’s opposition position and the worse of it all was that he even lost his MP’s seat for Lakeshore area in Etobicoke city.

Therefore NDC party executives should stop harassing the former first lady by pressurizing her to back out from contesting the incumbent president in elections. If the people want her it will show and if they do not want her too the results of the primary will tell after July 9, 2011.

Nana Yaa Konadu Agyeman Rawlings having gone for nomination forms simply tells everybody that she has gone beyond the line were she could be stopped in her tracks as far as contesting the primary is concern.

“Agyeman Konadu Rawlings atra po so leave her alone only to learn whether the party members want her or not by the results of the primaries”.