Atta Mills was born on July 21st 1944. This day in astrological and zodiac terms makes him a Cancerian. The character traits of this star sign of which Atta Mills belongs is briefly described below;
“The cancer sign is represented by the crab, and astrologers describe their physical outlook as average to below average in height, with a fleshy body and short legs in comparison with the rest of them. Their hair is usually brown, their faces round, their complexions pale, their foreheads prominent, their eyes small and blue or gray in color, their noses short, perhaps upturned, and their mouths full. They sometimes walk clumsily. The Cancerian character is the least clear-cut of all those associated with the signs of the zodiac. It can range from the timid, dull, shy and withdrawn to the most brilliant, and famous Cancerians are to be found through the whole range of human activity. It is a fundamentally conservative and home-loving nature, appreciating the nest like quality of a secure base to which the male can retire when he needs a respite from the stresses of life, and in which the Cancerian woman can exercise her strong maternal instincts. They are often over-imaginative and prone to fantasy, sometimes trying to shape their lives to fit some romantic ideal. Interestingly - because they give the impression of being down-to-earth - they are often fascinated by the occult and are more open to psychic influence than the average. In their personal relationships they are mentally a mixture of toughness and softness, often emotional and romantic to the point of sentimentality in their fantasies; but in real life and in marriage, their loving is not so sentimental but tenaciously loyal. Even if they have affairs (and they may do so, for the male in particular is open to sensual stimulation), their first loyalty remains to spouse and family, of whom they regard themselves as the protector. They are too easily influenced by those they love and admire, and swayed by the emotion of the moment. They are also loyal friends, the negative side of their faithfulness being clannishness, the narrow patriotism of "my country right or wrong"; and closing ranks in suspicion and coldness toward outsiders. The Cancerian has many potential faults. They can be untidy, sulky, devious, moody, inclined to self-pity because of an inferiority complex, brood on insults (very often imagined), yet are easily flattered. They can be tactless and difficult yet, because they are normally ambitious, they will curry favour by floating with majority opinions, outlooks and fashions of the day. As a result they often change their opinions and loyalties and, indeed, their occupations, and lack stability. They are easily corrupted and, because they are convincing romanticizers, can make successful confidence tricksters”. In part, Mills embodies most, if not all of these character traits – which is unflattering, to say the least. And this is the personality today we have as leader of a great party like the NDC and president of Ghana.
The emergence of Atta Mills on Ghana’s political landscape has caused serious destabilisation within the political party that offered him the platform, i.e. the National Democratic Congress (NDC). To begin with, Mills is not a founding member of the party, which was formed in 1992 from the PNDC of Jerry Rawlings hinging on revolutionary ideas and grass-root participation. I doubt if even he was a card bearing member of the party between 1992 and 1996. He only became a sympathizer of the party in 1996 when he was made the running-mate to Jerry Rawlings to contest the 1996 presidential and parliamentary. One can infer from this that Mills only became a member of the party to advance his selfish course i.e. to be a vice president and possibly the president of Ghana, of which unfortunately he now is. As a result, he does not appreciate what it means to be a member and/or sympathiser of the NDC from the grassroots. His personal achievement as an academic offered him the opportunity to serve the party at the highest level without going through the ranks and structures of a true party man. I can say without any fear of contradiction that knowing what he has become now, if the this offer was not made to him to be the vice presidential candidate for the 1996 elections, Mills would never have been part of the NDC because he claims to be an Nkrumaist (whatever that means), and therefore a CPPian. As he was offered the opportunity to serve Ghana in the capacity of vice president through the NDC, also begun the destabilisation of the party. The fact that he was made the running mate of the party ahead of some core and founding members of the party began the destabilisation and division within the party. Many of the party’s big wigs were disillusioned at the turn of events and grumbled in private, and some key financiers withdrew their financial backing of the party. This level of disaffection was not widely reported in the media because it was well-managed, and besides most of those disaffected party persons still believed in the vision of Rawlings for the development of Ghana. Nonetheless, the level of disaffection was manifested in the electoral results of the 1996 general elections. NDC lost a considerable number of parliamentary seats, and the presidential votes in percentage points also reduced from 58.4% in 1992 (when Mills was not on the ballot) to 57.4% (when Mills was on the ballot). In electoral terms, a loss of 1% in votes is significant; and that was what Mills brought on board the NDC train. I should also point out that, within this period, Kwesi Botchwe longest serving finance minister from the PNDC days to the first NDC administration left the government when Mills was brought in. Also P V Obeng, another key and influential member of the then government and party also left, ostensibly to engage in private business. However, one cannot rule out their disdain for Mills due to his divisive nature and personality that has today come to light, for the walking out of government of these two personalities and hordes of others.
By the year 2000, the disaffection within the NDC could no longer be internally managed, especially after the infamous Swedru declaration by President Rawlings to support Mills in any NDC internal presidential primaries. The Swedru declaration of support to Mills forced key party members to break away to form the National Reform Party (NRP), led by comrade Goosie Tanoh. The argument has always been advanced that the breakaway of Goosie and his cadre compatriots was because of the undemocratic nature of the declaration, and internal party affairs. But the real truth and facts of the matter is because the declaration was in support of Mills – an alien in the NDC. Had President Rawlings made the same declaration at the same venue for a different party member, there would never have been a any breakaway. This brings to the fore the Mills factor in the first open and major break-up of the NDC in the year 2000. Nevertheless, the Rawlings influence in the party still managed to foist Mills on the NDC and he thus became the flagbearer of the party for the 2000 general elections, which he subsequently lost to J A Kufuor after a second round of balloting. Again, it is significant to point out here that the percentage share of the NDC was significantly reduced yet again from 57.4% in 1996 to 43.3% in the 2000 elections with Mills as the standard bearer of the party.
Despite a clear correlation between these dwindling electoral fortunes of NDC, the internal wrangling and break-ups and the emergence of Mills in the party; for reasons that are not yet known, President Rawlings still continued to offer his unalloyed support and backing to his former vice president. And because Rawlings is the pillar of the NDC, with loads of influence within the grassroots supporters of the party, anyone he gives his backing to definitely wins in NDC internal elections.
Thus came the battle for the 2004 general elections. Prior to this election, there was yet again an internal contest to elect the flagbearer for the NDC. This internal contest also proved so divisive, with Mills once again at the centre of the events. The contest was between Mills and Kwesi Botchwe. And for the first time in the history of this great party, factionalism and camps emerged. These camps were the Obed Asamoah (then chairmanof the NDC) camp and the Mills camp. The Mills camp was led by Rawlings. Whilst Obed spearheaded and campaigned for Botchwe, Rawlings led the campaign for Mills. The influence and support of Rawlings swayed the contest in Mills favour and he went ahead to contest the 2004 on the ticket of NDC, which he lost again to president Kufour. But the internal wrangling for power in the party between Mills and Botchwe left bitter results, which repercussions were soon to be seen in 2005.
After the Mills/NDC defeat in the 2004 elections, the party in 2005 went to congress to elect party officials and national leaders to steer the affairs of the party for the next national electoral cycle. This congress was held in Koforidua, and the camps Mills created reared their ugly heads at this congress, which was characterised by violence, fear and intimidation. The two camps, one loyal to Obed and the other to Rawlings battled it out on the congress ground. Of course, Mills was wise enough to pitch camp with Rawlings. The candidates that identified themselves with the Rawlings camps triumphed in that election; the beneficiaries of which are Dr Kwabena Adjei, Asiedu Nketie, Ama Benyia-Doe etc. The loosing candidates spearheaded by Obed Asamoah left to form another party – out of the NDC: Democratic Freedom Party (DFP), with people such as Bede Ziedeng, Frances Esiam, Nii Okaija Odamafio etc etc.
With the exit of Obed and his gang, the Rawlings NDC remained united, focused on the core principles of the party and with a clear sense of purpose and direction, to make relevance, their presence in the Ghanaian political landscape; with Rawlings as the key figure inspiring and giving direction. Dr Kwabena Adjei and Asiedu Nketia who benefited from the support of rawlings at the 2005 Koforidua congress led the building of the party structures and re-organisation to whip the morale of the teeming party supporters at the grassroots. Hence from 2005 to 2008, political observers and pundits could describe NDC as the best party in Ghana, united and formidable. As part of the re-building and straetgising, efforts were made not to repeat the mistakes of the past that caused disaffection and break-away of people from the party. To this end, there was a convention that national officers and key figures of the party should not openly support candidates vying for positions in the party. This convention was well respected during the 2006 congress to elect the elect the presidential candidate for the 2008 Ghana’s general elections. As a result, Jerry Rawlings did not openly support Mills, Spio, Alhaji Iddrisu or Eddie Annan. However close associates of President Rawlings insists his preference was Mills, but in order to respect the party’s convention of not openly supporting any of the candidates, he kept his preference to himself. Spio who was a clear favourite to win had a shock of his life when on the eve of the elections, Mills and his strategist deployed a dubious, wicked and fabricated lie to the delegates that Rawlings had asked them to give their backing to Mills, because of their knowledge that where Rawlings go, NDC goes. The strategy and lie worked to perfection because the next day Mills had an overwhelming 82% of the delegates vote. Therefore Mills won that contest over Spio because of that wicked lie and the Rawlings factor.
The NDC fought the 2008 elections as a united party. NPP as a party in government had incumbency advantage and the financial war-chest to have won that election. But because of some corrupt allegations, profligacy, arrogance and disrespect to the Ghanaian voter, the NPP lost the elections to NDC. Nonetheless, the mere allegations levelled against the NPP alone could not have won NDC the elections, if NDC were not united, coupled with their four-pronged campaign strategy (i.e. Rawlings team; Mills and his door-to-door team; John Mahama and his team and the combined efforts of all the national executives). Of all the campaign teams, Rawlings was the key and the crowd puller, with his biting attacks on the NPP and his philosophical messages to the voters. Though everyone in the party played their part to see us elected into power, political pundits largely give the credit to Rawlings because of his persona, charisma and crowd pulling antiques.
With the semblance of unity within the NDC and a party in government after 8 hellish years in opposition, many were those who believed that the party will rule Ghana for at least 16 years before the voters start turn their back on the party. This is because we have a former vice-president, with perceived experience now as the president of Ghana, and a former minister of communication under Rawlings, the most liked and affable John Mahama as the vice president. What a good team that would have been if not for the treachery and betrayal of Mills. The strategy was for Mills to deliver the electoral promises of the party in oue manifesto to Ghanaians and hence guarantee his re-election in 2012, and then hand over to his vice-John Mahama who would have ruled Ghana for 8 years. Sad as it is, but the reality is that this strategy wouldn’t see the light of day because Mills has shown his ungratefulness to the party and founder, sown his seed of disunity once again in the party and is hell bent on destroying NDC. Mills has once again plunged the party into chaos, confusion and division. He has decided to create camps once again within the party – and his opponent this time around is non, other than Jerry John Rawlings; the man who brought him to political limelight, and stood by him in the face of internal political adversity through thick and thin.
Rather than focusing on delivering the better Ghana agenda, he is seriously engaged in trying to obliterate Rawlings by hiring and sponsoring the likes of Kwesi Pratt, Raymond Archer, Alhaji Bature in the flawed Ghanaian media, and some small boy government appointees in the persons of Ablakwa, Omane Boamah, Haruna Iddrisu Nii Lantey to vilify, insult and denigrate Rawlings and all that he stands for. But the question remains, will Mills succeed in his latest communist inferior tactics to divide and destroy the NDC party and Rawlings? The answer to this question is a resounding NO, because Rawlings has the truth, charisma, integrity and the people and Mills has none. These developments have brought about the unprecedented agitations of party cadres against the government, culminating in the chasing out office of some MMDCEs, and seizer of public properties, with some calling for change in direction and leadership and others calling for Rawlings to tone down. With the creation of these camps, the battle lines are drawn between evil and good. The evil side led by Mills wants to destroy NDC, and supported by the likes of the Awhoi brothers, Kojo Tsikata,; and opportunistic deputy minsters like Agyenim Boateng, Omane Boamah and Ablakwa who are championing a CPP agenda in an NDC administration. On the other hand is the good side led by Rawlings and supported by true die-in-the-wool NDC patriots, the cadres, rank and file of the party, Spio, Nana Konadu and some silent majority in government who are still loyal to the principles of NDC and wants to preserve, protect and defend it for posterity to be part and proud of the course for grassroots participation in governmental structures and citizen empowerment – the ideals of June 4th, otherwise known as RAWLINGSISM.
The NDC delegates that will be congregating at Suyani between the 8th and 10th of July 2011, have the golden opportunity to take back the NDC and reposition it to serve Ghanaians in an environment of peace, stability and tranquillity with every Ghanaian counted as important in National development by getting rid of the cunning Mills who has been the bane of the party’s development and harmonisation since he was brought from political obscurity to partner Rawlings in 1996. Yes you have the golden opportunity to tell Ghanaians that money can’t buy your conscience and that you care for holistic development and growth that benefits every Ghanaian irrespective of one’s political affiliation or position in government. That, yes, you’re also tired of the insults from government appointees and that you don’t condone division, ineptitude incompetence, corruption and cowardice. You can send this message loud and clear to Ghanaians by simply using your thumbs to get rid of the lazy, clueless Mills. Aluta Continua
Senior Kobby (London-United Kingdom)
Contact: seniorgntley@yahoo.com
