Posted on: www.dailyguigeghana.com
By William Yaw
Owusu
Tuesday, May 03,
2016
Two of the daughters of former
President Jerry John Rawlings, founder of the ruling National Democratic
Congress (NDC), appear to have dumped the NDC and pitched camp with their
mother’s National Democratic Party (NDP).
Amina Rawlings and Yaa Asantewaa
Rawlings took the front row at the congress of the NDP at the Trade Fair Site,
Accra, on Saturday, displaying their unalloyed support for their mother, Nana
Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, who was elected unopposed to lead the party in the
November presidential election.
They were also seen lending a
helping hand to the organisation of the congress with enthusiasm, while joy was
written on the face of their mother.
The two daughters wore T-shirts
with the bold inscription: “I love NDP” on the chest, while the former president,
who was also there to give moral support to his wife, was in his usual
beautiful African traditional top with a black pair of trousers to match.
Curiously, the eldest daughter,
Dr Zenator Agyeman-Rawlings, who is facing a battle of her life in order to
become a parliamentary candidate on the ticket of the NDC, was conspicuously
missing at the function.
Although she has managed to win
the NDC primary to contest as parliamentary candidate in the Klottey Korley
Constituency in Accra, the incumbent MP, Ishmael Nii Armah Ashittey, and some
NDC supporters in the constituency have sued her on the grounds that she was
not eligible to be in the parliamentary race at the time of the party’s primary.
Their argument has always been
that Dr Rawlings was not a registered voter when she was cleared by the NDC vetting
committee, insisting that the move was a breach of both the party’s
constitution and the 1992 Constitution.
Zenator Rawlings has since taken
advantage of the limited voter registration exercise to get her name onto the
national biometric register - a move that went viral on social media.
Unopposed
After the close of nominations
last Wednesday, it became clear that Mrs Rawlings was going unopposed as
flagbearer for the party and the delegates did not disappoint her as they
endorsed her.
After the declaration by the
Electoral Commission, Mrs Rawlings called on the members of the party to rally
behind her in order to wrestle power from the Mahama-led NDC administration, which
she has always accused of running down the country; and called on Ghanaians not
to relent in demanding accountability from the government.
“Ghana is a great country but
the people are being suffocated with weak and bad governance…Let us join hands
and lift our country so we can confront all the negativity.
“I believe that the role of a
democratic government is to protect and strengthen liberties and redress the imbalance
between powerful and weak, between the rich and poor through a government which
invests in people but at the same time is prepared to be accountable to the
people for its actions and omissions.
“We can only redress the
imbalance if we identify the weakness and emphasise on structural changes which
will go a long way to block the loopholes which allow the injustices to be
perpetrated in the first place,” she added and urged Ghanaians to vote for a
visionary leader.
“It is our responsibility to
build a country that gives each individual an equal opportunity. It is our responsibility
to give power to leaders who have vision and the common goal of Ghanaians at
heart,” Mrs Rawlings stressed.
The NDP flagbearer was disqualified by the EC in the
2012 election.
Jerry Rawlings, who stole the show with
his entry to the conference grounds at exactly 12:30 pm, was met with chants and
songs as well as appellations and mobbed by the enthusiastic supporters and
delegates of the NDP.
Rawlings spoke against tribal politics,
noting that multi-party practice in Ghana is leading to expressions that create
animosity and violence.
“I owe it a duty and a responsibility to
help and bring the best out of each and everyone for the safe, security and
stability of this country,” he said.
About 2,000 delegates drawn
from the 10 regions of the country attended the conference.
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