National Democratic Congress (NDC) guru and former Minister of Local Government and Rural Development in the erstwhile Rawlings regime, Professor Kwamena Ahwoi, has slammed one-time National Chairman of the party, Dr Obed Asamoah saying he cannot come to terms with the fact that someone who intends rejoining the NDC could posit that ex-president Rawlings is not the founder of the party built on his ideologies.
To him, it was inappropriate on the part of the Life Patron of the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) to have made those remarks adding that should the proposed merger between the two parties turn out to be a fiasco, the blame should be laid squarely at the doorstep of Dr. Obed Asamoah who he believes, is clearly bent on undermining the move judging by his utterances.
�By this statement, you are definitely provoking some people to say look, if this is the attitude with which they are coming into the NDC, then we don�t want the merger,� Prof. Ahwoi said.
The DFP officially announced that it had joined forces with the NDC to beat the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in December 2012, and endorsed President Atta Mills� candidature for next year�s polls at a home-coming ceremony held at the Arts Centre in Accra.
Moments after the merger, the DFP capo on various networks stated that contrary to popular held belief, ex-president Rawlings is not the founder of the NDC. According to him, the former president and his honchos have appropriated a provision in the NDC constitution that says the party was founded on his (Rawlingsďż˝) ideals, to call him founder.
He was emphatic that the ruling party has no founder but founders (representatives of all the districts in Ghana at the time the NDC was founded), adding that at the time the NDC was founded, Mr Rawlings was still in the military and the political partiesďż˝ law barred him from playing any role in the formation of a political party.
�I have the list (of founders) � because I was instrumental in the formation of the party and the registration of the party with the Electoral Commission � and �it would interest you to note that that list doesn't contain President Rawlings�it was in 1998 that the NDC constitution was amended to say that the party was founded on President Rawlings' ideals and that is what he and his supporters interpret to mean that he is the founder [of the NDC]. Well, I cannot be responsible for that kind of interpretation, can I?� he asked.
Interestingly, his comments have led to a backlash not only the office of the former president, but from some staunch leading members of the ruling NDC, including Prof. Kwamena Ahwoi, P.V. Obeng, Kwame Perprah, E.T. Mensah, Nana Ato Dadzie, Totobi Kwakye and Shirley Ayittey who jointly issued a press statement condemning his remarks.
Speaking in an interview on Radio Gold on Thursday morning, an obviously riled Kwamena Ahwoi pointed out that if records are not set straightďż˝ regarding the contradictory comments passed by Dr Obed Asamoah, it could trigger a bad reaction.
�You know that there are many people in the NDC who are in it because of Jerry Rawlings. So statements like these are really undermining of the solidity of the party. So those of us of the older generation decided that he has gone a bit too far and therefore we must set the record straight,� he said.
He argued that if Dr. Obed Asamoah would want to go by that tangent then he (Ahwoi) could boldly say that he (Dr. Asamoah) is also not part of the NDCs Founding Fathers.
�He (Obed) chaired the meeting at which it was decided that we should insert it in our constitution that Jerry Rawlings is the founder of the NDC. So how can he suddenly, make a legal summersault if it is not to provoke some unfortunate reactions?� he asked.
Touting the credentials of Mr Rawlings, the Local Governance and Decentralisation Lecturer further stated that had it not been for the ex-president, the NDC would not have survived the test of time, and added that the NDC has put in place the needed measures to ensure that the return of the DFP Life Patron, Obed Asamoah and former Spokesperson for the defunct Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), Major Boakye Djan, to the NDC would not �create problems� for the party.
�As, a party, I think we have the people, the strategies and experience to be able to manage them. If they are not managed well, they can create problems,� he said.
Source: Chris Joe Quaicoe/Peacefmonline.com
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