Spio Garbrah: I'd Not Mind Quitting The Race

A presidential aspirant of the ruling National Democratic Congress, Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, has said he would not mind quitting the race if a �negotiated peace agreement� was reached among the various interest groups in the party. �If there was a negotiated peace agreement which all the people I�ve mentioned are happy about, I will take my nomination forms and tear it up for the sake of NDC,� he said on Multi TV�s current affairs program PM EXPRESS. Dr. Spio-Garbrah who joined the NDC presidential race on the final day of nominations said he would do "almost anything for the sake of NDC winning 2012 elections. This is not about me becoming president � just in case.� According to him people who have worked with him believe he is capable of being a good president and that "President Mills believes that, President Rawlings believes that, Nana Konadu believes that, 10 other people who have been my supervisors in almost every work I�ve done for the past 20 years believe that. They have told me.� Dr. Spio-Garbrah who admitted that the NDC party is divided said it would be difficult for the party to foster unity if the issues that have divided the party are not addressed before the party goes to congress in July. �I can assure you that partly because of the personalities that we�re dealing with, certain people�s motivation and character, having unity after the congress is going to be difficult. Even those of us who went to the 2006 congress have not met once since we left the congress� Asked what his chances are in a race which has both the incumbent president and the wife of the founder of the party contesting, Dr. Spio-Garbrah said �my chances are as good as the degree of unhappiness in the NDC.� �I don�t know the degree of unhappiness [in the party] because we don�t conduct opinion polls in this country and degree of unhappiness is a psycho-graphic measurement, it�s not merely demographic,� he added. Dr. Spio-Garbrah attributed the recent turn of events in the party to lack of proper management of party affairs, a skill he said former President Kufuor executed tactfully while seeking re-election for his second term bid. �In 2003/2004 most of us Ghanaians had no idea that in NPP there were as many as 17 possible presidential candidates while president Kufuor was president. He wanted a second term and he found the necessary political skills to keep those 17 people at bay. It was only when he was about to leave and when you might say the door was wide open, then, the 17 people rose up.� �You are not going to tell me that in 2003, those 17 people had not thought about or reflected about the merit of their being president. At least 5 of them, maybe 7 of them had that interest in 2003 but they all stayed put because of political management. So it is possible to manage a process if people are interested,� he said. This management skill Dr. Spio-Garbrah noted was lacking in the NDC hence what appears to be the rush to get President Mills out of office.