Obed Takes A Swip at JJ

Former Attorney General and one time Ghana’s longest serving Foreign Minister, Dr. Obed Yao Asamoah has lashed at his former boss, Jerry Rawlings questioning attempts to retain him as founder and leader of the party.

The NDC chairmanship hopeful, whose eligibility to be one of the three contestants vying for the position has been constantly questioned by some party members, sought a re-definition of the role of former president Rawlings in the NDC.

He told a press conference in Accra that; “some of us think it is about time his role was seen in terms of creating goodwill for the party instead of playing a controlling role.”

The former Attorney General said, even though the NDC party was founded on the vision that inspired the 31st December Revolution, “to continue to designate him (Rawlings) as the founder and leader of the party when by the Constitution of Ghana he cannot be a flagbearer again, is problematic.”

To him, it gives rise to a leadership role that is neither appropriate for a former head of state nor desirable.

Dr. Asamoah whipped the former president for the party’s defeat in the 2000 general elections, stressing that Rawlings overshadowed the flagbearer, Professor Mills, to the detriment of the latter.

“And even now, he wants to call the shots with regard to candidates for the various positions of the party, obviously believing that his role as a leader calls for such intervention,” Dr. Asamoah said.

He described the former president as having charisma and standing as an international figure, all of which according to him, are assets to the party. He however noted that, charisma is no substitute for organization.

Dr. Asamoah told the press conference that he does not believe in the style of the Swedru declaration other than in elective principle.

The former A-G who describes himself as a independent-minded and a disciplinarian made it clear that in spite of the differences in democratic principles between him and the former president, he is fully prepared to work with him if he is elected as chairman of the beleaguered party.

On the proposed amendment of the NDC’s constitution to make way for a single chairmanship position, Asamoah, who is also Ghana’s longest serving foreign minister observed that co-chairmanship has potential for conflict and leadership paralysis, particularly now as each chairman would represent a faction of the party.

“Even if the co-chairman will not be in conflict with each other, the inertia of one will induce the inertia of the other, thus again leading to paralysis,” he said, explaining further that in the past, because the NDC was in government, they eliminated the potential for conflict by making one of the co-chairmen, Mr. A.A. Munufie an ambassador to La Cote d’Ivoire.

He said, moreover, that since government at that time provided leadership for the party, the question of chairmanship was peripheral and the performance of the co-chairmen was not of critical importance.

“The concept is alien to all political parties in Ghana and to most of the world. We cannot claim to be wiser than the overwhelming majority of mankind,” Dr. Asamoah told the packed press conference in Accra, adding the NDC should follow the general practice of having one chairman who can be held responsible for failure if any.

He also took a swipe at those who oppose his bid for the chairmanship describing their campaign as vicious aimed at eliminating support for him, saying this has overshadowed the dire need to strategise with regard to the loss of jobs by party supporters and the victimization of ex-District Chief Executives, among others.

As evidence of the said smear campaign by his opponents within the party to eliminate support for him.

Former Greater Accra Regional Minister, Joshua Alabi disclosed that a few hours to the press conference, some media houses received phone calls that the press conference had been cancelled. Organizers of the press conference had to make several phone calls to media houses to confirm the date.

However that did not deter Dr. Asamoah from calling for reconciliation within the party. Whilst dismissing the assertion that he wants to use his chairmanship ambition as a stepping-stone to the flagbearership of the party in the 2004 elections.

According to him, if he were that ambitious, he would not have been so anxious to draw the likes of Mr. Paul Victor Obeng, a one-time presidential advisor on governmental affairs, Captain Kojo Tsikata, a former head of national security and Dr. Kwesi Botchway, former finance minister, who could be strong contenders for the party’s presidential slot.