In recent times there have been talks about who better qualifies to lead which party for election 2012. The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) is currently at ‘war’ as to who better qualifies to lead it.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) is also on a silent ‘war’ as to who would be the very best to lead the party to election 2012. As a Ghanaian there is every need for me to also have my view about who should be in our Golden Jubilee House after election 2012 for two reasons; Ghana is my biological country and the seat of government was built with the tax payer’s money in other words our money.
Within the NDC several times are already making the rounds as to who should lead it for election 2012. Names such as the wife of the founder of the party Mrs. Konadu Rawlings has come up prominently, along side names like Vice president John Dramani Mahama, Ekwo Spio Garbrah, Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni etc.
It must be explained that, the current president of Ghana professor Mills has his name also popping up faintly in some circles. He is seen to be the toast of some bootlickers who have still not come to terms with the fact that president Mills is just a huge failure in terms of governing Ghana!
He has in my view spent most part of his over 15months in office acting on impulse and only when his NDC thugs threaten mayhem and chaos! No wonder a youth member of the party recently flooded the media with articles of how slow President Mills was and of the need to have him replaced for election 2012.
The need to write this particular article was occasioned by a question a friend asked me about who I thought was best to lead the NDC for election 2012 and why? He after asking the general question also asked a specific question of ‘Between Konadu Rawlings and President Mills who better qualifies to lead the NDC and why’?
If even I had no answers to these two questions, nothing prevents me from expressing my opinion on it. So I went ahead and told the friend why I thought Mrs. Rawlings was best to lead the NDC in 2012 rather than President Mills.
Firstly, Mrs. Rawlings suffered the same way Mr. Rawlings suffered to form the NDC from the ripples of the illegal coups which eventually metamorphosed into the NDC. To me apart from Mr. Rawlings Mrs. Rawlings is the next person who did very well to make the NDC reach the current height it has achieved. With this there is nothing wrong if the party decides on her for election 2012 because she knows best where the bolts and nuts of the party are hidden!
Secondly, Mrs. Rawlings through the 31st December Movement was able to mobilize the votes of Ghanaian women for the NDC. She better qualifies for the votes of the women she has been working with for the past decades than Mills and can definitely attract their votes more than president Mills.
Thirdly, Mr. Rawlings will ‘die’ more for the spouse more than Mills any day should she win the mandate of the delegates of the NDC to lead the party to election 2012 considering the current disaffection he has with his ‘boy’ president Mills.
Fourthly, Nana Konadu in my view will be more appealing than president Mills who already was “made” president by the Rawlingses. Also she looks more energetic and focused to me than president Mills. These are my reasons among others that I think Mrs. Rawlings would be best to lead the NDC better than Mills for election 2012. My reasons could be different if she is compared with others I must say.
Let me now unveil reasons why president Mills should not be supported by the NDC to lead it to election 2012 at all!
Firstly, president Mills it must be reiterated was in the first place “made “ president by the Rawlingses after he was “Swedru declared” amidst protestations from persons who thought he was new in the NDC and already benefited enormously as Vice President to have been handed over again the leadership of the NDC. So if those who “made” him now want to lead their party “Who born dog” for Mills to want to contest again?
Secondly, the presidency has sort of exposed president Mills in my view. He seems to easily succumb to pressure from irate youth of his party. Under president Mills public and Civil servants only needs protestations from NDC thugs to be fired from their jobs. Nobody should tell me these are good signs of a good president.
Thirdly, president Mills and his NDC government have so far failed to fulfill core campaign promises; They kicked against a presidential Jet while in opposition but procure one in government; They promised to introduce one term premium for National Health Insurance but failed, They promised to reduce petroleum prices but have been doing the reverse since he became president of Ghana.
When he is to visit Dagbon all he needs to do is to order panicky kidnappings and abductions to pave way for his visit. These are not good signs of a leader and I don’t think he will be relevant to the politics of Ghana after his term. Nana Konadu Rawlings must be brought in to save the NDC.
Another disadvantage of Mills is that, he can not appeal to voters on his own. Age seem to have caught up with him and I don’t want to delve into issues of his health which is alleged to even be affecting his performance and made it impossible for him to even attend major international assignments on behalf of the country.
What must be explained too is that, even though Mills is the president, the Rawlingses seem to have more influence in the NDC government than Mills. The truth is that, most of the ministers and other appointees are more loyal to the Rawlingses than to Mills. Anybody can debate this.
Aside Konadu Rawlings, such persons as John Mahama, Spio Garbrah, and Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni etc can all make better presidents than Mills in my view. But when it comes to the specific question of who leads the NDC for election 2012 between Konadu and president Mills, my bet is on Mrs. Rawlings for the reasons stated above.
AKILU SAYIBU, UK
EMAIL: Akilu.sayibu@live.uwe.ac.uk
