Deepening power struggle in NDC, gay issues dominate media

Accra, Ghana (PANA) – The deepening power struggle in the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), which its leaders fear could end up in the birth of a breakaway party by former president Jerry John Rawlings, gay issues and birth of quintuplets dominated the media in Ghana this week.

The celebration of the 32nd anniversary of the 4 June uprising, which marks the first military government of Rawlings, was the platform for him to issue an open warning that his fight with president John Evans Atta Mills might end in the “inevitable”.

Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, a pro-Rawlings member of the party, only a few days earlier said there was a possibility of a new party emerging from the NDC.

“Rawlings calls for new leadership,” was the headline of the state-owned Ghanaian Times on its coverage of a lecture delivered in Kumasi by Rawlings to mark the anniversary.

The story said Rawlings was calling for a new leadership for the NDC to win next year’s election and bring back the cherished values of the June 4, 1979 uprising, which brought him to power for the first time.

He said probity, accountability and social justice which were the core contents of the uprising and formed the foundation of the ruling NDC were currently missing in the party and should be brought back by a new leadership that should be formed by his wife, Nana Konadu, who is challenging president Mills for the party's ticket.

Rawlings claimed that some people in the government were looting state resources rather than helping to fight corruption and promote the welfare of ordinary citizens.

“People have lost hope in the style of governance of the party. A new leadership born out of the consciousness of the people will bring back the spirit of the party,” he said.

“My criticism not born out of my wife’s ambition – Rawlings,” was the headline of a story by the state-owned Daily Graphic.

Rawlings again justified his bitter public criticisms of President Mills and his Administration saying they were not out of his wife’s political ambition but “to protect the boat from sinking” because President Mills had failed “to protect the sanctity of the principles” on which he rode to power.

He said there were many things that needed to be done to consolidate power, but any time he drew the president’s attention to them he turned deaf ear to his advice.

But spokespersons for the government and the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) slammed Rawlings for his outburst, known in the Ghanaian media as “boom”.

“Govt, NPP slam JJ’s ‘boom’” was the headline of the Times which said Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, a deputy Information Minister, stated that former President Rawlings’ comment that “the inevitable will happen” within the ruling party if President Mills did not “accept the will of the delegates” at the party's primaries pointed to a deliberate blackmail.

He said the comment amounted to a threat to delegates to manipulate them to vote in a particular direction.

He said the comment was to tell the delegates that the NDC would disintegrate should Nana Konadu, his wife, lose the primaries and therefore for fear of that inevitable, delegates would be forced to vote for his wife to keep the party intact.

Rawlings also described former President John Agyekum Kufuor and his government as the most corrupt to have ruled the country, but the NPP spokesman, Nana Akomea, said Rawlings had no moral right to criticise any government for corruption, as his administration never stood up against corrupt practices.

The Graphic said “Govt. rejects Rawlings’ corruption allegations” with the story saying the government had rejected allegations of corruption leveled against its appointees and functionaries by former president Rawlings with Mr Ablakwa saying President Mills, being an honest person, had consistently made corruption too expensive for any of his officials to indulge in.

That, he said, had earned the president praises from even his critics, some of whom had even vouched for him.

The Graphic had another reaction from the office of former president Kufuor which challenged Rawlings to come out with any proof of corruption or forever hold his peace.

Frank Agyekum, Spokesperson for Kufuor, said Ghanaians were tired of the persistent accusations of Rawlings against anybody except himself.

As president Mills and Rawlings' wife went through the party's vetting process for the primaries fixed for 8-10 July, the Graphic had the headline “We’re one family – Prez Mills”.

The story said president Mills reiterated his appeal to supporters of the party to regard the Congress as a family affair and refrain from acts that could undermine the unity and peace.

He said the exercise to elect a flag bearer was not about winners or losers and expressed strong optimism that its outcome would leave the NDC more formidable.

The fears of the party hierarchy that Rawlings and his wife would break away was the basis of the chairman of the vetting committee, Alhaji Issifu Ali, wrenching an assurance from the ex-first lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, that she would not break away should she lose next month’s primaries.

He said the ex-first lady vowed to keep faith with the NDC even if she lost the primaries. The question is whether she will keep her vow.

“Woman gives birth to quintuplets,” was the headline of the Times about a couple who had been struggling for seven years to have a child now blessed with the delivery of quintuplets, two boys and three girls.

The Times said they realised the miracle at a fertility clinic in Tema. The children were delivered through caesarean section. This is the second time quintuplets have been delivered at the fertility clinic since its establishment in1985.

As concerns continued to be expressed about the open admission of gays of their sexuality and the public revulsion of the trend, the Graphic carried a story with the headline “Gays can be tried”.

It quoted the Director of Public Prosecution, Ms Gertrude Aikins, as saying persons caught engaging in homosexual activities could be liable for prosecution.

Responding to calls for laws to ban homosexuality, she said persons engaged in homosexuality fell foul of the law but admitted that compared to sodomy, homosexuality carried a less severe sentence under the criminal code.

Ghanaian laws prohibit unnatural carnal acts, a definition which is widely understood to include homosexuality, although in practice very few have been prosecuted for homosexual activities.