Confusion Over Veep�s Nomination

THOUGH THE recent nomination and selection of Vice President John Mahama by President Mills as his running mate for the 2012 general election did not come as a surprise to many political analysts, it seems to be creating a lot of anxiety among the rank and file of the party. Some members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) have started raising serious issues with the processes leading to the selection saying due constitutional provisions were not followed. Notable among those who have raised issues with the process is NDC youth activist, Ernest Brogya Genfi who was recently sacked from his position as Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council. Many including him have questioned the timing of the nomination, coming barely a month after the President was elected to lead the party to the 2012 general election at its recent Sunyani congress. They have also raised issues with the fact that the party�s founder and former President John Rawlings was not consulted, let alone informed before the announcement was made and questioned the president�s motives over the matter. Indications are that Mr Rawlings who is also Chairman of the NDC�s Council of Elders was not consulted on President Mills� choice of John Mahama as running mate as prescribed by the party�s constitution. Brogya Genfi who happens to be a member of the Communications and Research Committee of the Ashanti regional NDC and staunch supporter of the Rawlingses together with like-minded members in the party, believe there was a deliberate ploy to keep Mr Rawlings at bay and are wondering why the focus has not been on how to reconcile the NDC as promised by the President Mills when he was re-elected. In his victory speech, the president assured party members that his first agenda after the congress would be to stretch a �unity hand� to his contender Nana Konadu Agyemang-Rawlings. But Brogya Genfi who spoke to Daily Guide said �I have checked, double-checked and cross-checked from the office of the founding father of the NDC whether there has been any meeting of the Council of Elders after the Sunyani Congress and the answer I received is in the negative; at least not even one that they are aware of in the absence of the founding father of the NDC.� He said the last time he checked from a close source to the former First Lady, �zero effort had been made in that regard. Party people are for example, questioning why the haste to have an announcement of a running mate when it was obvious who the choice was going to be.� He noted �the NDC is currently buffeting and needs unity now more so than these announcements.� �I have heard the National Organizer of the NDC, Yaw Boateng Gyan argue that the founding father who was widely known to be outside of Ghana at the time of the announcement was invited through a purported letter which I�m told did not have a clear agenda for that meeting,� he said. The NDC youth activist noted that this attempt by Yaw Boateng Gyan to ridicule the position of the founding father of the NDC to say the least is not the best.