You Can’t Ride A Sick Horse To Victory - Spio-Garbrah tells NDC

Dr. Ekwow Spio-Gabrah, Vice-Chairman of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), has warned the party that it cannot “ride on a sick horse to victory in 2012.” The former Communication Minister in the Rawlings regime is least enthused about the current wrangling going on in the party.

The outspoken Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO), who did not mince words about the feud engulfing the NDC administration, said the party might be in government, but must have lost track of what it takes to be in power.

According to him, the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) seems to be wielding more power than the ruling government, with the judiciary, media and the business community being more sympathetic to them (NPP) than the ruling government. “The NDC might be in power, but might not necessarily be in control of power in the country,” he stated.

When The Chronicle reached the Deputy Minister of Information, Baba Jamal, on phone to comment on this assertion, he pleaded the Fifth Amendment (no comment).

Speaking in an interview with Oman FM in Accra yesterday, Dr. Spio-Gabrah did not mince words when he stated that the NDC risked losing the 2012 general elections, if it fielded an “unhealthy horse for the race in 2012.”

According to him, anyone who mounted an NDC sick horse, be it Professor Mills or Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, would not succeed, unless all hands were put to the wheel, to ensure victory in 2012.

Speaking on the glaring divisions in the NDC party, which had led to the Founder and his wife, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, pitching camp against their once beloved choice (Prez Mills), Spio said unless pragmatic measures were put in place to heal wounds and build bridges, the party would be in serious trouble.

He reiterated that Mills, or anyone who assumes the leadership of the party for the 2012 elections, cannot win power without the support of the entire membership of the party.

According to him, former President Jerry Rawlings was arguably the most popular political figure in the country, and commands about 10% votes for the NDC, and as such, it would be suicidal for the party to ignore him in efforts towards retaining power in 2012.

Speaking on what others have described as an overly democratic NDC, where a sitting President is being fiercely contested against, over the flagbearership of the party, Dr. Spio-Garbrah said “under normal circumstances, if everything were to be going on properly, there would be no need for anyone to contest a sitting President.”