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Opinions of Wednesday, 11 December 2013

Columnist: Eyram Hadjor - Freelance journalist

Don’t trust Manly-Spain

The clandestine activities of a certain Henry Manly-Spain, if not checked by the leadership of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), might spell doom for the party in the Greater Accra region.

A worried constituency chairman of the ruling NDC who pleaded anonymity said Manly-Spain can’t buy the Greater Accra chairmanship with money, arguing that others have worked, toiled and sacrificed to sustain the party and it would be political dangerous to allow the businessman cum boxing promoter hoodwink the delegates with freebies.

For the purpose of this piece, I would call the constituency chairman in one of the vibrant constituencies as ‘Alhaji Bimbola.’ "I have been a constituency chairman for the past 12 years yet have not known Mr. Spain to be one of our own, maybe he did the NDC in his closet,’’ he said.

There are a couple of activities that Manly-Spain is doing that if not checked by the leadership of the party, will go a long way to haunt the great NDC’s restructuring efforts.

The boxing promoter is going round constituency by constituency doling out Ghc1000 to unsuspecting chairpersons in his bid to buy their conscience and in effect using them to catapult himself to fame, but he will fall like a pack of cards as we shall take the money and show him the exit.

Are the 34 NDC constituencies for sale or perhaps the delegates?

Manly –Spain is not known by the grass root support base of the NDC, yet he claimed to be charitable to them.

The self acclaimed founder of the NDC-USA and a patron of the Ablekuma South constituency had to jettison delegates of the parliamentary candidate Gideon Aryeequaye whom he had already promised to feed in the run-up to the 2012 elections, after making them wait in the scorching sun at the liberty park in Dansoman. Can he be trusted? Beware of the Trojan horse!

Manly-Spain is not known by the regional executives, had not contested any election before and thus an automatic victim of disqualification from contesting the chairmanship.

What is favoring him is the fact that he is a giver of free money and fish.

Alhaji Bimbola urged regional executives to watch out for those monetizing the political environment because one had to work hard to become a chairman and not to acquire it on a silver platter.

I am delighted that so far, the man has been rejected like a cassava stick in some constituencies.

Manly-Spain can’t use the meager 500 T. Shirts he gave to the aspiring parliamentary candidate for the Ablekuma West constituency Victoria Hammah to become a chairman.

What greater Accra need is a team player like the current chairman Ade Coker and not individuals who have no political track record.

I dare Manly-Spain to mention any parliamentary candidate he supported in the 2012 elections.