Veep, Baba Kamara’s plot on Hannah Tetteh Exposed!

I read with anxiety on Monday, 12 May 2014 a feature article by a certain NDC TEIN Group with a headline “Hannah Tetteh killing Vice-President slowly.”

The content of the article confirmed what we are hearing about a plot by certain faceless people at the Flag Staff House to destroy the political career of the Foreign Affairs Minister Hon. Hannah Tetteh.

These faceless people include the vice-president himself and his most trusted ally at the Flag Staff House, the former ambassador to Nigeria, Alhaji Baba Kamara.

The said NDC TEIN group stated in the feature article that ‘many would have thought, as a Vice-President, Kwesi Amissah-Arthur would have been so instrumental and more engaged in the governing system just as did, the late Alieu Mahama and before then, the leverage given Prof. Attah Mills by the then Jerry Rawlings to market him for the Presidency. In contrast to this perception, the current NDC government seems to have shifted the goal post and to have effectively made the Vice-President a frustrated figure regretting with each passing day why he accepted the challenge at the first place. We are told that there will be a National Economic Dialogue on Tuesday 13th May, so observers will examine closely the role the Vice Pee plays in that forum.”

“It has now become an open secret within corridors of power and the NDC apparatchiks that central to the ineffectiveness of the Vice- President is the calculated undercover strategy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hannah Tetteh -Kpoda to make the Vice- President unproductive and to make him look an incompetent person in the eyes of Ghanaians and the NDC leadership. Hannah Tetteh and her "surrogate generals" in government have so far succeeded in frustrating the Vice- President through various anti-establishment schemes aimed at undermining and marginalizing Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur at the seat of government.

“Many would recall that, hardly does a week pass-by without speculation in the media proposing a Hannah Tetteh for NDC running mate for 2016. (See:http://elections.peacefmonline.com/pages/politics/201403/194752.php or http://www.viasat1.com.gh/v1/vnews/local.php?postId=4628 or http://article.wn.com/view/2014/03/31/Mahama_To_Ditch_AmissahArthur_As_He_Chooses_Hannah_Tetteh_As/ ).” The group added.

I would like this so-called TEIN group to understand that all the allegations they have leveled against the Hon. Minister of Foreign Affairs are baseless and unfounded.

How can a minister inhibit the smooth operations of a vice-president, if indeed that vice-president knows what he is about at this time of unprecedented economic hardship?

One of the cardinal reasons for appointing His Excellency Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur as a former Governor of the Bank of Ghana to partner President Mahama for the election of 2012 was to serve as a counterbalance to Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia. Having served as a deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) was exaggerating the credentials of Dr. Bawumia in economic management. So the NDC and President Mahama found it expedient to use Amissah-Arthur to dilute the NPP propaganda. The strategy had worked and thankfully our party had won the 2012 elections.

However, after winning the election, what did we see? The economy has experienced one of its worst performances in decades and the vice-president, who is the head of the economic management team and a former Governor of the Bank of Ghana seems to be clueless on what to do to salvage the economy. In fact even his presence cannot even be felt in the county as the debate on the economy and its management got heated.

Dr Bawumia on his part has been vocal and had come out with a well-researched paper diagnosing the problems afflicting the economy and providing solutions, much to the admirations of many Ghanaians.

I might disagree with certain issues Bawumia had raised in his paper, but the fact of the matter is that there are a lot of sensible things in that paper which could provide certain directions to the current economic managers to salvage the economy, especially the Cedi from further beatings.

How can somebody blame the foreign minister for the inability of the vice-president to respond to Dr. Bawumia’s paper? In my humble opinion, the vice-president was silent because he is clueless and incompetent. Therefore Hannah Tetteh should not be used as a scape goat.

If that TEIN group wants to test the competence of the foreign minister they should go to the ministry and her former ministry, the Ministry of Trade to ask. The workers there would attest to her competence.

I strongly believe that the NDC needs to be planning for a successor for 2020 when the second mandate of our beloved President Mahama would expired after the coming victory in 2016. So, if that is the case, then the vice-president should give way for a younger person to partner President Mahama for the 2016 election. Then after our victory in 2016, the person while serving as a vice-president can be marketed effectively to ensure a smooth transition in 2020.

In my opinion, no other person deserves this position than the current foreign affairs minister, Hon. Hannah Tetteh. She has an impeccable record as a legal practitioner, a Member of Parliament and a cabinet minister. She had also served our party effectively when we were in opposition with commitment and vigor. She is a very competent and articulate person and seems to know what she is about when it comes to her work.

We are aware of the anti-Hannah Tetteh agenda hatched by the Vice-President and certain elements very close to him at the Flag Staff House such as the former ambassador to Nigeria, Alhaji Baba Kamara. Per our information, Alhaji Baba Kamara has vowed to use his money and influence with President Mahama and in the NDC to deny Hon. Tetteh the opportunity of partnering President in the 2016 elections.

We want to tell him that we are also prepared to face him because we believe that common sense should dictate that she should be the one to partner the President in the 2016 elections. If he likes the NDC and wishes for its progress, then he will end his blind support for the vice-president Amissah Arthur. In this issue, it is not a question of friendship; it is a question of principles and commitment to the party. He Baba Kamara, what is his commitment to the NDC after joining Obed Asamoah to form the DFP? If he and the vice-president do not stay away from Hon. Tetteh, we will teach them some useful lessons of life.

Baba Kamara must know that we are closely watching him and his machinations at the Flag Staff House against certain key government and party officials and at the right time we would expose him for the whole world to know who he is. We have not forgotten his betrayal of the founder of our party President Rawlings and the former President Prof Atta Mills in the 2000, 2004 and 2008 elections and at the right time we shall come out with the full details of what happened if he continues to disturb the party, the president and the government.

ARTHUR WILLIAMS

ACCRA