Mills Sprays Cash...Says Herbert Mensah

Posted on: www.dailyguigeghana.com
Herbert Mensah, a friend of the Rawlingses has become a thorn in the flesh of the NDC
By William Yaw Owusu

Tuesday May 10, 2011.
Herbert Mensah, the man who calls himself a friend of the Rawlingses has dropped a bombshell, claiming that the camp of President John Evans Atta Mills in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearership race is intimidating delegates with huge sums of money in his attempt to lead the party for the 2012 election.

He said cash promises have been made to delegates in exchange for votes in order to swing victory to President Mills.

Herbert was the same person who once said Ato Ahwoi, a close associate of the president had told him that President Mills had become delusional and hallucinating seeing trees the event leading to the 2008 elections.

This time around Mr. Mensah told Peace FM, an Accra based private radio station that “I have just come back from Kumasi and picked up security tape from there and it suggests that millions of Cedis are being transferred for the purposes of making sure that Mrs. Rawlings does not make it,”

The NDC is billed to hold delegates’ congress from July 8 to July 10, 2011 in Sunyani to elect a flagbearer but President Mills’ attempt to seek re-election is facing stiff opposition from former First Lady Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings who has also picked her nomination forms to contest the President.

While some accuse the former first family of power drunkenness, Mrs Rawlings’ campaign team maintains that President Mills has lost touch with the people due to incompetence and corruption in his government and insist the destiny and future of the country and the NDC as a party cannot be entrusted in the hands of the President anymore because he is a bad driver.

Former President, Jerry John Rawlings, founder of the NDC who is vigorously campaigning for his wife Nana Konadu has time and again appealed to NDC delegates to change President Mills or risk losing the 2012 general elections.

Sharing his thoughts on the 10th anniversary of the tragedy that befell supporters of both Accra Hearts of Oak and Kumasi Asante Kotoko on May 9, 2001 when 126 football fans died at the Accra Sports Stadium, Herbert Mensah did not waste time when immediately after eulogizing the dead, he zoomed straight into politics, accusing the Mills camp of doling out money to ensure that the former First Lady does not succeed in her presidential bid.

“We are hearing of budgets of eighty and ninety plus million Cedis to ensure that she does not make it…some of the newspapers have started publishing stories of loans being given to women organizers,” he fired.

The former Kumasi Asante Kotoko Chief Executive continued: “So there is a whole suggestion of machinery in place to make sure the delegates succumb to financial and other intimidation which obviously the government may deny but I sat with 10 to 15 delegates in Kumasi who were involved with May 9 and quite clearly not all is straight.”

Mr. Mensah claimed that he is not a member of the Konadu for President Campaign Team but only a family friend and said the Rawlingses have very strong views on the way things should be.

Commenting on Konadu’s Presidential campaign launch, he said “Once you make a declaration of intent then you must have rolled out plans as to what it is that you are trying to do. I am not part of the inner strategy group who are deeply involved and I think Kofi Adams is the person who can give more information on the campaign.”

He said it cannot be that he should be described by some people as the ‘number one confusionist’ in the NDC because he cannot dictate to the former first family.

“For a whole leader of the country for 19 years to be listening to one small boy who is opinionated on both sides of the fence…then I must be very powerful…You know me very well. If I was running this campaign it will be a different campaign,” he told Sefa Kayi, host of Peace Fm morning show.

He said that in the process to bridge the peace and restore unity in the NDC it is the camp of the Rawlingses that always initiated the move saying “this year alone, I have had many meetings with the Castle and nobody would dare come out to deny it apart from the ignoramuses who make these kinds of statements.”

The football administrator turned politician said “I do not think the government wants her to back down…We have been trying with different people who are supposed to have the ear of the President on areas of commonality to resolve this matter,” but to no avail.

He said the Rawlingses have decided to throw their weight behind Nana Konadu because President Mills and those surrounding him have not understood the process of taking power and have neglected everybody including the party’s foot-soldiers.

Faulting President Mills for not being able to discipline his ministers who he says have been insulting Mr. Rawlings, Herbert Mensah said “some of the small boys are making irrelevant and stupid statements on air…Small boys are taking on President Rawlings…They should be keeping quiet.”

He said there is internal disrespect among the executive arm of government adding “If President Rawlings is taking on President Mills, it is for President Mills to deal with it. It is not for an Omane Boamah or Agyenim Boateng or Ablakwa or other minor beings to open their mouths to be responding.”

He said it looks to him that the executive arm of government does not understand its own power or role, position and respect for old age saying “a lot of these could have stopped long time ago.”

“If the executive itself has the balls and courage to stand up and show that it has the strength it would have dealt with this. Are we saying the executive secretly encourages this while hiding behind the cross and be seen as more pius than other people.”

He said the success or failure of Mrs. Rawlings’ presidential bid will depend on the how much money the Mills camp is prepared to splash saying “you know the Rawlingses are going into battle without money…That is their signature tune.”

“If there is no solution to the end which I hope there will be in the end, there is no reason why she should not win. She has very strong chance. Clearly if it was an expanded electoral base she would win hands down.”