These campaign posters of the former First Lady has shaken Ghana's ruling party.
Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com
By William Yaw Owusu
Monday October 25, 2010
ARDENT SUPPORTERS of Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, the wife of former President Jerry John Rawlings, seem hell-bent on elbowing President John Evans Atta Mills in his quest to get a second term as President of Ghana and he has to either fight his way to satisfy his ambition or get ready to be chopped off.
Jaws dropped in several parts of the country yesterday when 2012 campaign posters of the former First Lady popped up like mushrooms on several walls and poles in major towns and cities in all the ten regions of the country.
The posters were seen at Kwame Nkrumah Circle in Accra, Esiama in the Ellembele district in the Western region, at Nkawkaw, at Bolgatanga, in Kumasi and in Takoradi, while they were splashed in the border town of Afloa near the CEPS canteen.
The pasting of the posters coincided with the last Thursday letter bomb thrown by the NDC founder, Mr Rawlings accusing President Mills of institutionalizing corruption in the country.
The Nana Konadu 2012 campaign poster also has pictures of other women leaders globally; like the late Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia and there is a question mark beneath the pictures with an arrow pointing towards the former Ghanaian first lady.
The group championing the campaign would not disclose the names of any of their regional representatives though their telephone numbers are available on the posters, while the posters are said to have been finance and printed by some businessmen in Kumasi.
An agitated group calling itself ‘Foot Soldiers of the National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) has claimed responsibility for the Nana Konadu campaign posters and warned that the NDC does not have an alternative because if Mrs. Rawlings does not become the flag-bearer, they would sabotage the party at the 2012 elections.
Kofi Adams, a National Executive of the NDC and Spokesperson for the Rawlings Family when asked if Nana Konadu would listen to the group and contest Atta Mills told Joy Fm that she was being prevailed upon to contest by party people and she has a limited option.
“…these are party people, not enemies speaking, they are party people that are speaking so if you have party people endorsing the ideals of a party member who is at the very top, you don't come out and condemn them, what you do is to encourage them to hold up the values. At the end of the day if they speak good of the leader of the party, it is for the good of the party...” Kofi Adams noted.
Interestingly, none of the several presidential spokespersons and Special Aides picked their phones when DAILY GUIDE called them yesterday in an attempt to seek their opinion on the issue.
The move comes days after NDC founder Jerry Rawlings has filed a statement to journalists explaining in very clear terms that he has a problem with President Mills. “Do I have a problem with President Mills? Yes, I do - His refusal to pursue the moral mandate of the people to reinstate truth, transparency and most of all justice into the fabric and psyche of the nation.
This is leading to the institutionalisation of crime and corruption. Justice will be deformed,” the NDC founder had stated in the statement he personally signed and released to the media.
Nana Konadu, though has not spoken in plain words, has given ‘telling signals’ that she wants to lead the NDC to the 2012 polls and has been very vocal and consistent in denying reports that she has endorsed an Atta Mills candidature.
“This is a clear signal we are giving that Nana Konadu is our next flag bearer and whether the party likes it or not we have gathered enough funds to buy the nomination forms for her once the time is due.
“No one can stop us and no one can stop her…she would accept the forms because if she does not, it would be the end of her political career as her followers all over the country would take her on for life.
“We want someone who is a true party person and has the respect of the foot soldiers to become our candidate and not an ingrate and an alien who would win power and appoint his fellow aliens to occupy top positions as the true owners of the party languish,” a gentleman who gave his name as Omanbuo and described himself as National President of the group told DAILY GUIDE in an interview that was conducted in the Twi language yesterday.
He confirmed that for the past eight months, a lot of work has been done across the country to ensure that the prospective delegates that would elect a candidate for the NDC are ‘Konadu Converts’ who already have lost faith in Atta Mills and his government.
From Takoradi Emmanuel Opoku reports that the alleged ambition of Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, wife of former President Rawlings contesting the 2012 general elections on the ticket of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) has been given a major boost as her campaign posters had been pasted at strategic areas in the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis even before the party goes to congress to elect a flag bearer for the presidential election in 2011.
The posters which are designed in the NDC colours of green, red, white and black with the party’s symbol at the top corner depict Nana Konadu beaming with smiles and beautifully dressed in the NDC colours.
The posters also portray the pictures of about fifty women president in various parts of the world including President Ellen Johnson of Liberia and the mobile phone numbers of her campaign managers who claim to be NDC foot soldiers in all the ten regions of Ghana.
Most of the posters have been pasted in front of Royal Preparatory School at Sawmill near Takoradi where the Effia-Kwesimintsim constituency of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) used to hold their constituency meetings.
Speaking to DAILY GUIDE, the Western regional campaign manager of Nana Konadu for president 2012, who pleaded anonymity confirmed that supporters of Nana Konadu have been holding series of meetings to plan how their idol will unseat Prof Atta Mills in the next presidential primary of the party.
He disclosed that most of the said meetings were held in Kumasi, the Ashanti regional capital and in the Northern region.
From Kumasi, Morgan Owusu reports that the former first lady’s pictures were splashed throughout the Garden city on Saturday night.
The posters which have the umbrella, the symbol of NDC daringly exhibited on it in addition with a number of pictures of females who have served as presidents in various countries have been pasted at vantage points in the Garden City.
The exhibition of the posters became the topic of discussion in the Ashanti regional capital throughout the day.
Information reaching DAILY GUIDE indicates that supporters of the longest serving first lady in the country’s history commenced the pasting of the posters at market places, lorry stations and other public places on Saturday evening.
DAILY GUIDE checks have revealed that the regional executives in the region are peeved about the circulation of the posters for the reason that they were not consulted before the exercise was carried out.
Meanwhile sources from an ultra Rawlings loyal group, Friends of Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings (FONKAR) hinted DAILY GUIDE that Nana Konadu candidature has the backing of several Majority Parliamentarians and Constituency executive members who would form the delegates to elect the next flagbearer.
The source said even some ministers have come to show support for the former First Lady and that is why no one is challenging her or seen rallying support for Atta Mills.
The FONKAR sources admitted that President Mills has control over Regional Ministers, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives but expressed the hope that a lot of them would soon throw their weight behind Nana Konadu.
The source said former President Rawlings will soon embark on a nationwide tour to see the state of non-performance for himself adding “people are charged and feel very let down and betrayed by President Mills and his buddies.”
The source described some ministers of state as “Committee for Joint Action (CJA) Ministers” and “Charlatans” and added: “Prof. as chairman of the political committee of the party has not called a single meeting since the Tamale congress.
Foot soldiers feel alienated and their action is seen as defiance in the way and manner Prof. is running the country,” the source who will remain anonymous hinted.
DAILY GUIDE has gathered that both FONKAR and the Foot Soldiers Group are angry at the apparent building of a campaign war chest allegedly by Vice President John Dramani Mahama with Kwesi Ahwoi, Minister of Food and Agriculture doing the same behind the scene.
These concerns are being relayed via text messages to party members and to the media. And the mongers of the information say if President Mills cannot handle the situation then Mrs. Rawlings and her husband should take control.
They have directed their anger particularly at President Mills, the Ahwois, John Mahama, Kwabena Adjei, Asiedu Nketia aka General Mosquito (Mozzie) and say they feel sidelined by the likes of Kofi Totobi, Buta, Larry Adjetey and others who they claim have captured the power and are holding tight onto the ‘freebies’.
Last week, vice President Mahama who has been linked financial and other immoralities had to come out and denied the text messages. His spokesperson, John Jinapor said the messages which made serious allegations against some Mills’ ministers were from the camp of the opponents of the NDC and that there was no group called Foot Soldiers association in the ruling party.
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