Konadu is not a Kwesi Botchwey; Kofi Adams tells critics

Deputy NDC General Secretary, Kofi Adams         A Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and an aide to the Rawlingses, Mr Kofi Adams has dismissed suggestions that former First Lady Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings will be thrashed by President Mills at the party's July Delegates Congress as was the case with Dr Kwesi Botchwey and Dr. Ekow Spio-Garbrah in previous ones. Mr. Kofi Adams is of the view that the former First Lady is not like other party members who jumped ship and later returned to fight for the leadership of the party, stressing that “Mrs Rawlings is not a Kwesi Botchwey.” Mr. Adams who made these comments in a special interview with Super Morning Show sit-in host, Bernard Saibu on Joy FM Friday said Mrs. Rawlings is a much stronger candidate who has remained loyal to the ideals of the NDC. He said Mrs. Rawlings has tremendous support at the grassroots level and does not need to receive such “Cholera endorsements” from regional executives and ministers who form a fraction of eligible voters at the congress. He backed Mrs Rawlings’ accusation that people are being coerced into endorsing president Mills. He argued that meetings called to endorse the president are conducted in such hostile environment that people who have dissenting views are intimidated into declaring their support for the president. For him, if the voting at these meetings were by secret ballot, the kinds of mass endorsements received by president Mills would not have been witnessed. He believes a silent majority is pressured - by the public voting process - to back resolutions to endorse the president. According to Mr Adams, Mrs Rawlings' intention to contest President Mills for the flagbearership position is borne out of a desire to ensure that the party builds a stronger outlook towards the 2012 elections. Apathy, he said, is now a huge problem in the party that threatens to derail the NDC’s chances at the polls. He said apathy among party executives has reach a crescendo, a situation he fears could harm the fortunes of the party in the future. Asked whether Mrs Rawlings will not be doing the bidding of her beloved husband when she eventually becomes president, Mr Adams was quick to reject the notion stressing that his boss' wife has always been her own person and therefore can govern the nation without reverting to Jerry Rawlings for direction. He was however quick to add that Mrs Rawlings is at liberty to consult her husband who has seen it all. He blamed the media for stage-managing the declarations and endorsements for the President accusing a section of the media of not allowing people with divergent views to have their say on the subject. He called on his party to learn from the New Patriotic Party by expanding its electoral college to the grassroots in order to allow the real party supporters to have a say on whatever happens in the party. He asked other members of the party to be tolerant of other people’s intentions to contest the president as it is a democratic dispensation, adding even though the idea is a novelty - for a sitting president to be contested for his party's leadership - in Africa, there is always a first time to everything and therefore the NDC should lead the path for other parties to emulate. Story by Derick Romeo Adogla/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana