I Will Run On The Achievements Of Mills – Spio-Garbrah

By Gifty Arthur

After claiming that the President has surrounded himself with “Team B players”, former Vice-Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and one of the flagbearer hopefuls of the NDC, has said categorically that he would campaign on the achievements of President John Mills in the 2012 elections, if chosen to lead the ruling party.

“I would stand on the platform of the NDC, the achievements of the NDC government led by President Mills, absolutely”, Dr. Ekow Spio-Garbrah said.

Dr. Garbrah said this in an interview with Hot FM’s Ekuorba Gyasi on the station’s newspaper review programme, ‘Maakye’, yesterday.

The CEO of the Commonwealth Telecommunications, who has been describing himself as a “Unifier” in the July NDC congress, explained that he sees nothing wrong with campaigning on the enviable records of the NDC and for that matter, President Mills, because he(Mills) did the same when he first contested on the party’s ticket in 2000.

Speaking on wide-range of issues concerning the pending flag bearership race at Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo Region, he cited the opposition NPP’s Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo as an example, and said he also campaigned on the achievements of ex-President John Kufuor in the 2008 elections even though he lost to the sitting President.

“Akufo Addo campaigned on the achievements of Kufuor, Akufo Addo, in the last elections, campaigned on the achievements of Kufuor, and Prof. Mills also campaigned in 2000 on the achievements of former President Rawlings. You see, it is not unusual to campaign on someone else’s achievements”, he said.

Instead, he said, what is important is for the candidate to do is to take the best part of the achievements of the previous government and make the best out of it, and bring on board the initiatives of the flag bearer as he did in 2006 NDC primaries in Legon, as an example.

“You would take the good things that they have done and make the most noise out of it, and also bring your own initiatives.

As I told you in 2006, I had a whole campaign message, all in writing and in print, telling the country about my achievements about my potentials, my vision, what I can do for the country in year one, year two”, he said.

It is not clear what achievements Dr. Garbrah is talking about as he is on record to have described the present government as a Team ‘B’ government who are not delivering.

Party members are also doubtful as whether Dr. Garbrah, who has been described as a pro-Rawlings, would submit his forms to contest the race since Mrs. Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, wife of the party’s founder from whom he takes a lot of inspirations, has also picked forms to contest in the same race.

Some have predicted that Dr. Garbrah would not submit his nomination forms to the party, but instead, he would throw his weight behind the former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, since they are perceived to belong to the same bloc- the Rawlings Camp.

Other political experts have also said that Dr. Garbrah is just testing the waters to contest the race in 2016 by which time President Mills, would have finished serving his 8-year term should he succeed in winning the July primaries and subsequently win the 2012 general elections.

Again, he has indicated on several platforms, including Metro TV’s Good Evening Ghana, that, he would gladly step down from the race should the party leadership make room for negotiations.

Speaking on Radio Gold’s newspaper review on last Tuesday, Dr. Garbrah disputed the assertion by the host of the programme, Alhassan Suhiyini, that he is not a member of government although he has been appointed by President Mills to represent him on the AngloGold Ashanti Board.

He refuted the suggestion, saying that he is there to represent the views of Ghanaians, and not the government per se.

Until it became public knowledge that he was serving on that board, Dr. Garbrah had said that he had not been given any appointment, just because he claims the President had indicated to him during the campaign time that he would make him his Foreign Affairs Minister, a position he alleges Mr. Ato Ahwoi had sworn to make sure he does not get.

Whilst Friends of Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings (FONKAR) which represents the bid of the former First Lady, and Get Atta Mills Endorsed (GAME) representing President Mills, are on the ground campaigning vigorously for their respective candidates, Dr. Garbrah is yet to start his. Rather, he is jumping from one media house to the other articulating his reasons for contesting President Mills.