PHOTO: Nana Addo meets Sekou Nkrumah

Source : Daily Guide/Ghana | Wed 25th August, 2010 13:50 GMT

Sekou Nkrumah with Nana Akufo-Addo

Nana Akufo-Addo, 2012 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) yesterday met Sekou Nkrumah, son of Ghana’s first president at Osu for a friendly chat.

Nana Addo was at Osu at the invitation of Henry Lartey, son of the late Dan Lartey of the GCPP, for a Homowo party. At the house overlooking the Castle 200 metres away, Nana Addo met Sekou, Nkrumah’s third son, who was recently sacked by President Atta Mills after he criticized the President for weak and directionless leadership.

Sekou had said it was "almost impossible" for the NDC to succeed on its “Better Ghana” agenda because the President was too weak a leader to take bold decisions.

In an interview with the Africawatch magazine, he was asked: "Is the Mills government on course to deliver its pre-election promises of a Better Ghana?" He answered: "Honestly, there is a big question mark because since the NDC came to power in January 2009, there has not really been any serious change in real terms."

He continued, "From where I am standing, I can see clearly that since coming to power, the Mills government has not fulfilled its promises. I know it is not politically correct, but that's a fact." The Africawatch magazine asked Dr. Nkrumah, 'Is the economy any better now than when President Mills met it in January 2009?

"I am not an expert, but it doesn't seem to be better now than when the NDC met it. I don't think much has changed," he said. Sekou, who has given up on the NDC achieving the change promised by President John Evans Atta Mills, explained his pessimism by accusing the President of coming into office without a programme: "It is almost impossible. You need to take bold decisions; and those bold decisions should have been on your agenda before coming to power.

"I think forces within the NDC should stand up and wake up to their responsibilities to make sure that the 'Better Ghana' agenda is not just lip-service."

Sekou, who was the National Co-ordinator of the National Youth Council, could not hide his big disappointment with President Mills and has therefore called for a "more dynamic personality, who is strong-willed and can inspire national confidence" to challenge the President for 2012.

With President Mills failing in his view, the son of Ghana's first President is urging the NDC not to be too rigid in thinking that to change Mills in 2012 would be politically sacrilegious. "What if a new person will bring new energy and provide what is missing in President Mills?" Dr Nkrumah posed this searching question to the NDC.

Before the 2008 election, he abandoned his father's Conventional People's Party, to join the NDC. But, he has since regretted it. "When I joined the NDC, I had the confidence that the party had experienced people who had been in government before, so I felt there was really no time to waste when they returned to power in January 2009," Dr Nkrumah said.

He explained: "I mean things should have taken off right away because they had experience. But that's not really what happened. Now you have a lot of questions and doubts, and I don't know how patient Ghanaians can be." After his interview with the magazine he was fire from his position.