What President Mills Must Do To Win The 2012 Elections

With President Mills having publicly declared his stand to go for a second term, there is no doubt that he has a lot of homework to do to make this a reality. That in the minds of even his most hostile critics he is an honest and humble person goes without saying. But, truth be told, his honesty and humility for Ghana are not be enough to keep him in power.

As far as The Republic is concerned, what President Mills needs to win the 2012 elections is total unity in the NDC. However, at the moment, unity does not seem to be the lot of the party. While many members of the party have become despondent over the government seems to be kowtowing to the whims and caprices of the NPP, there are those who believe that all is well and thus nobody should complain. Foot soldiers, the men and women who did the spade work for the party to win power have suddenly become endangered species with one big toe in the party calling on the police to arrest them if they go wayward.

Then also is the fact that the Founder of the party, Jerry Rawlings, is clearly not happy with the way the government is behaving as if it was not brought into power by a party. For Rawlings, the biggest weakness of government is the seemingly slow pace of justice delivery. Now comes the news that Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings would be seeking to challenge President Mills at the congress of the party to lead the NDC into the 2012 Presidential elections. Clearly, all these matters have seen Mills’ work cut out for him. To still be President after 2012, he must first win at the congress of the NDC and unite the NDC or (if Konadu would not be contesting him,) reach out to the many aggrieved people and address their grievances. What would not help President Mills is attacks on the Rawlingses in the media by people many believe have being paid by the Castle Don King to do so. Just yesterday, Raymond Archer went on air (RADIO GOLD) and virtually made unsavoury remarks about Former President Rawlings. In his paper, the ENQUIRER, he poured insults on Mrs. Rawlings. The end result is that NDC supporters, who are discerning, would begin to hold what people like Raymond say against Mills.

President Mills must not give ear to people who tell him that he can win the 2012 elections without the support of Mr. Rawlings in particular. The President has to take a look at Goosie Tanoh and Obed Asamoah to remember that thinking and acting as if Rawlings would not matter in the 2012 equation as Raymond Archer suggests, is tantamount to committing political suicide. So what is the way forward for President Mills? He has the arduous task of bringing everyone on board his government. He must begin to reach out to the Rawlingses, listen to whatever grievances they have and see how best to address them. Secondly, President Mills must dissociate himself from the attacks on the Rawlingses. He must not wait until the die is cast before coming out to do so as he did a few months ago when he waited until the harm was done before coming out, at the Tamale Congress, to say he has no faction in the NDC. President Mills ought to realize that Rawlings is the heartbeat of the NDC, the man of the people. Therefore, the more he is attacked by Raymond and his ilk, the more Mills would be seen as the problem in the NDC.

The big men in the party, government appointees and others who have benefitted directly from the Mills government may hold Rawlings in scorn only because they want to protect their privileged positions. The vast majority of NDC supporters, however, still see him as their man and any attempt to malign him would be met by all means possible. Thirdly, President Mills must look for a means to assuage the anger of NDC foot soldiers. If the President can do all this, then the 2012 election is his for the taking. However, if he makes the mistake of believing people like Ben Ephson and Raymond Archer that the Rawlingses’ influences in the NDC is waning, then he might as well forget about being President after the 2012 elections.

We believe that President Mills deserves a second term and will support him to go for it. But, only he can make it a reality.