Kufuor trying to establish personality cult

Cape-Coast, Oct 18, Chronicle -- THE central regional Director of operations of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr. Allotey Jacobs fired two shorts at President Kufuor and Vice President Aliu Mahama saying, whereas the Veep lacks political maturity, Kufuor is busy creating a personality cult around himself.

?He is trying to establish a personality cult that should be worshipped, glorified and that should be seen as perfect personality, whereas he is a known despot. We want Ghanaians to know the difference between him and Mills. That is why we want to expose these dirty tricks,? he said Mr. Allotey Jacobs, told The Chronicle in an interview last week that instead of President Kufuor to compare himself to Prof John Evans Atta Mills who is contesting him in the 2004 elections, he chooses to compare his status to Ex- president John jerry Rawlings.

Commenting on a recent visit of Muslim chiefs at the Castle, Jacobs said there was nothing wrong with chiefs visiting the president at the Castle adding that his party (NDC) had learnt that the government has set out to induce chiefs to portray the president as a perfect personality had set up a special committee.

He alleged that every Paramountcy in the region had been given ?10 million before the president embarked on his tour last August, adding that each chief received ?5 million during his tour.

?I don?t think it is wrong for chiefs to be visiting the Mr. Kufuor at the Castle but there is a deceptive game being played by Kufuor.

After his Volta region rounds when he realized that his chances of wining was very slim, the other way was to clandestinely invite the Voltarian chiefs to look as if they were rather visiting him and apologize on behalf of their people.?

Linking it to the last days of General Kutu Acheampong regime where he initiated Unigov Government, Jacobs said after the general had realized his government was unpopular, he lured chiefs with money and brought them to the castle as if they had accepted his leadership and portrayed him as a good leader.

He further stated that some of the chiefs were made to read speeches ostensibly written by district chief executives whenever the President was on his tour.

Continuing, the NDC regional stalwart maintained that the surprise visit paid by President Kufuor to the Central Business District (CBD) of Accra which was hyped by a section of the media was a hoax and attributed it to the fact that the president wanted to establish a personality cult.

He argued that CBD was a heavily populated area where many people converged and transacted business therefore the ruling party could not say the president was heavily welcomed. He said it was a few people who showed enthusiasm while the rest were desperately looking on.

Mr. Allotey observed that such media report played down the intelligence of the Ghanaian because they were discerning enough to see what went on.

?Why should they under rate the intelligence of Ghanaians, they are not blind and this is deception to show that he has absolute control of the country. Kufuor is a despot, a don Quixote who is not in control at all and keeps telling lies. Lies has become the foundation of his governance. It is very important that you expose your opponent?s weaknesses because we need to educate the people,? he challenged.

As to why he described the President as despot, he replied why should a sitting president go round ranting and calling Rawlings, former president as devil claiming ?it is only a devil who sees a devil.?

He told the paper that western democracy had stood the test of time because it was built on truth, stressing that Ghana?s democracy was in danger because there were two types of justices operating which placed the government always on the right side of justice and the opposition parties on the wrong side.

?I personally believed that Kufuor?s four-year rule had sent the country anticlockwise and we are back to the 1980s and it would take Mills to rejuvenate and redirect the country to prosperity.

He is the only one who has the gut, calibre and political will to do that.?

Responding to recent Vice President Aliu Mahama?s attack on Mills describing him as hypocrite who only preaches peace and turned round and insulted people, he said, he had never heard of Mills insulting people on a platform. Jacobs said the Professor had never played into the arena of political insults, explaining that he only criticized when it was due and did so constructively.

Allotey said he did not know where to place Aliu in the political spectrum in the country because he was politically immature and that he could not finger out issues in the current political dispensation.

?He is played like a pun in chess game. He is weightless who should stay away from Mills. He has no future for himself, his party and the country as a whole. Aliu was doing that to please his master for endorsing him for the second time as his running mate. He just made such comment out of frustration because he realized that the people of central region were solid behind Prof. Mills,? he concluded.