JJ Mocks Mills

Ex-president JJRawlings Ex-President Jerry John Rawlings has posted a low rating for the performance of his “own anointed son”, President John Evans Atta Mills, one year since he assumed power. Even as President Mills hosted a cross-section of the Ghanaian media last Thursday with a smile of satisfaction over what for him is a wonderful performance, his mentor, ex-President Rawlings, could only put up a wry look of disapproval. For those who disagree with the National Democratic Congress (NDC) founder on his position about Mills’ performance, he directed them to take a taxi ride in Accra “and see if anything good would be said about the government”. Commemorating his first 100 days in office, President Mills graded himself an excellent 80 percent, prompting critics to wonder why he would not leave the assessment for others to undertake. However, Thursday’s interaction with the media, intended to paint a picture of good performance, suffered the blow of the Tema ranting and poor rating by Rawlings. Ironically, when he hosted the media on Thursday, he stayed away from such an assessment, stating now that he is a student and would prefer the assessment to be made by others. At the time he assessed his government last year, he said he considered himself a teacher at the time, not so this time around, he added. Taking President Mills on, about the fulfillment of his promises, Ex-President Rawlings observed that these have not been met. Speaking during the party’s Tema engagement to commemorate the 28th anniversary of the 31st December putsch recently, Mr Rawlings sneered at Mills and his government for deluding themselves that their performance is up to scratch. Sounding defiant, he stated that he would not be cowed into silence by critics, who according to him, ignorantly criticize him, describing them as little mouths. A few months after taking over power, President Mills came under intense pressure by the man who brought him into the political limelight and eventual presidency of the nation, with an assortment of criticisms. Ironically, President Mills preferred the diplomatic option when he parried any suggestion that he is under any form of pressure from his mentor. Observers however consider Mills’ declaration of “all is well” in his relationship with the ex-President as a mere charade intended to steer clear from further stirring the hornet’s nest. For such cynics, if Mills thinks this declaration would put the lid over further attacks from Rawlings, he has missed it. Ex-President Rawlings considers the governance style of Mills as sluggish and devoid of the revolutionary vim which he expected of a political grouping he sees as belonging to him. His contribution towards the party’s electoral triumph in the last polls has been rubbished as insignificant by critics, but to such persons he had a ready answer when he ranted at the Tema NDC gathering. He told such critics that what he contributed to the party during the last elections surpasses monetary value. “What I brought on board your money cannot buy. The integrity I brought on board, their money cannot buy. I brought blood onto the table of some of my colleague soldiers, personnel who have died, you dare open your mouth to tell me what money has been onto the table,” an angry JJ yelled. Continuing, he accused Mills’ government of stealing his programmes after rendering him redundant. He taunted the government when he asked, “What programmes can you do in Accra that I could not do five times or ten times more?” Rawlings described the economy as leaking, with President Mills surrounding himself with persons he called greedy bastards. By A.R. Gomda/Daily Guide

Mills Boys Floor JJ

Ludwig Hlordze (R), with his two deputies An aide to President Atta Mills, Ludwig Akpene Hlordze, has been elected the National Youth Organizer of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), beating his main contender, Abubakar Musa Sidii, a loyalist of former President Jerry John Rawlings. The election, held on Saturday at the Sunyani Polytechnic Campus, was supervised by the Deputy Brong Ahafo Regional Director of the Electoral Commission, Arthur Yeboah. Early signs before the keenly-contested elections indicated a straight fight between the Mills boy and Sidii of the Rawlings camp. At the end of the polls, Ludwig Hlordze obtained 387 votes, beating Sidii, who polled 213 votes. Other candidates who fought for the same position were Ras Mohammed Mubarak Abdulai, who surprisingly secured only 6 votes after a rigorous campaign, Lord Hammah, a former student leader, who got 3 votes and Paa Kwasi Bruyare, 10 votes. Two candidates, Michael Kombor and Abdul Rahaman, pulled out of the race just before voting started. James Kofi Fonu was elected the First Deputy National Youth Organizer after securing 430 votes, while Barbara Serwaa Asamoah, a failed parliamentary candidate in the Offinso South Constituency, gained the mandate of delegates to become the Second Deputy National Youth Organizer by obtaining 378 votes. The nine candidates who contested the Deputy Youth Organizer position were Courage Kobina Barlon, Fred Kwasi Agbenyo, Edem Anthonio Asinyo, Emmanuel Osei, Abraham Azumah, Adongo Azule Jacob, a physically-challenged man and Hattie Laura Ken. JJ Rawlings with his wife Konadu Party gurus such as Ekwow Spio-Garbrah; Johnson Asiedu-Nketia, General Secretary; Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, Deputy General Secretary; Inusah Fuseini, MP for Tamale Central; Dr Hanna Bissiw, deputy Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing among others, stormed the congress grounds to add more colour to the event. The out-gone National Youth Organizer and MP for Tamale South, Haruna Iddrisu, did not mince words when he mounted the podium and lambasted some party bigwigs whose unguarded utterances had thrown the NDC in chaos in recent times. “People who go out criticizing the party should find a better way of doing that,” Mr. Iddrisu pointed out to the party stalwarts who are said to be ‘pissing in’, adding, “None of us here must work in a manner which will eventually lead the NDC into opposition.” According to him, he would not be one of those who pretend that there were no challenges and problems within and outside the NDC, indicating that the success of the NDC government would depend on the ability of party leadership to address those challenges. Hon Iddrisu told the NDC youth that the national cake did not only belong to members of the NDC and therefore they should desist from putting unnecessary pressure on the Mills-led government to give them what they did not deserve, adding, “Every Ghanaian must benefit from the economy.” He however called on the youth to rededicate themselves and show serious commitment by eschewing arrogance to ensure that President Mills and the NDC succeed in retaining power in 2012. Meanwhile, some aggrieved delegates and defeated candidates for the National Youth Organizer position have accused party bigwigs of involvement in vote-buying and mudslinging. Ras Mohammed Mubarak, one of the aggrieved defeated candidates, who did not associate himself with the two main blocs in the party- the Rawlings and Mills faction- expressed disgust at the manner in which some party gurus had allegedly given out money and mobile phones to delegates to vote for their preferred candidates. According to Ras Mubarak, a presenter of a GTV reggae show, delegates from the Western Region for instance, were given GH¢600 each, while candidates from other regions where given other attractive financial inducements to vote for some particular candidates. From Fred Tettey Alarti-Amoako, Sunyani/Daily Guide

Kwesi Pratt Lashes At Rawlings For Insulting Kufuor

Ex-President Jerry Rawlings was today subjected to a barrage of verbal missiles on PEACEFM’s KOKROKOO, when his true compañero, Kwesi Pratt Jnr, ripped him apart. The crust of Mr. Pratt’s verbal assault on former President Rawlings, had to do with the alleged insult Mr. Rawlings levelled at former President Kufuor, at a recent meeting of ex-African statesmen in Berlin, Germany. Whilst Mr. Pratt was categorical and strident in his attacks on ex-President Rawlings, Kofi Adams, the special aide to ex-President Rawlings, was equally loud and sharp in deflecting any attacks on his boss. An incensed Pratt questioned the moral right of ex-president Rawlings to criticize Presildent Mills’ leadership style, when just under 2years of his (Rawlings’) administration in 1982; several state-owned enterprises were sold with about 300,000 workers being laid off. His acerbic attacks seemed to reach fever pitch as he chastised Mr Rawlings for describing former President Kufuor as a “thief”. “I thought you were inviting men of integrity; I didn’t know you were inviting thieves like Kufuor,” Ex-President Rawlings is quoted as having said at the meeting in Berlin. This seems to have infuriated Kofi Adams who sharply cut in to say that Mr. Pratt and others had “grossly misinterpreted” his boss. Mr. Adams strongly held that Mr. Rawlings never accused ex-President Kufuor of being a “thief” but rather referred to him as “corrupt”. He also pointed out that it was “unfair for Mr. Pratt to compare the economic situation prevailing in the 80’s to the current economic climate,” adding that “the pace at which things develop nowadays through technology is different from that of the 80s.” Mr Kofi Adams contended that the former President had not erred in voicing out his concerns over how the country is being run. “What the former President said is not completely different from positions held or comments made regarding Prez Mills’ governance style by some other members of the party,” he argued. Source: John Nyaaba/peacefmonline.com