Paul Adom-Otchere, former Board Chairman of the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL), has claimed that Ato Ahwoi, a founding member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), orchestrated the imposition of the late Professor Atta Mills as Vice President to the late former President Jerry John Rawlings.

Speaking on his Good Evening Ghana show on October 7, 2025, Adom-Otchere described what he said was a 'calculated effort' by Ahwoi and his political allies to avoid internal contestation within the NDC as Rawlings prepared to exit office after two constitutional terms.

He alleged that Ahwoi’s intervention was meant to prevent internal party conflicts in selecting a successor.

“Indeed, the NDC was the first party to have the opportunity to go through it [succession] in 1999-2000, when JJ Rawlings, after serving as a two-term democratic leader and 11 years as a military leader, was exiting and so they needed to fix somebody there.

"Now, it was Uncle Ato Ahwoi who took the view that rancor about choosing a presidential candidate after Rawlings should completely be avoided by the party,” he alleged.

Adom-Otchere further stated that Ahwoi and his allies, referred to as the Fante Confederacy, managed the process, ultimately deciding that Professor Mills should become the vice-presidential candidate.

He claimed that Rawlings publicly endorsed Mills through what became known as the Swedru Declaration.

“Every political party must go through that at a point, and it's not very simple. When the NDC’s turn came the first time in the Fourth Republic to go through the process, it was Uncle Ato Ahwoi and his, at that time, so-called Fante Confederacy, who managed that process.

"They believed that they had managed it very well to avoid contest and imposed on Flight Lieutenant Rawlings his vice president. Professor Mills got Flight Lieutenant Rawlings to make a public announcement two years into his term,” he indicated.

Adom-Otchere continued, “Rawlings was sworn in January 1997. By mid-1998, JJ Rawlings had made what has now become an infamous reference in the NDC called the Swedru Declaration. The Swedru Declaration was occasioned by the philosophy of Uncle Ato Ahwoi. Ato Ahwoi needed to occasion the Swedru Declaration so that this kind of fighting, bickering, chasing each other, and dividing the party would be avoided.”

He noted that although the Swedru Declaration was ultimately successful, it caused a split within the NDC, as some aggrieved members left the party to form their own.

“Incidentally, that process, which was successful in terms of Ato Ahwoi's understanding of it, also occasioned the biggest breakaway from the National Democratic Congress.”

Adom-Otchere specifically mentioned that the endorsement of Professor Mills, who was serving as Vice President at the time, angered several key figures within the party.



'Adom-Otchere wanted me to create a position for him under NDC government' – Ato Ahwoi

Notably, among those who left the NDC were Obed Asamoah, Goosie Tanoh, and their supporters, who had rallied behind Tanoh to become the vice-presidential candidate in the event of a contest.

“…Once Professor Mills secured the vice president position, Ato Ahwoi metamorphosed Professor Mills into the NDC's inheritance to become the presidential candidate, endorsed by the ultimate leader of the NDC.

"Those days they called him the founder, and he had a single very powerful voice. Ato Ahwoi got JJ Rawlings to agree that Professor Mills would be the candidate.

“People were so angry. Obed Asamoah was angry, many people were angry. In fact, the young people who were around Goosie Tanoh and were waiting for a contest, which they believed Goosie Tanoh would win, left the party to form their own party,” he concluded.

Watch the video below:



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