“I will give Konadu a bouquet of flowers if she gets 30%” - Ben Ephson

The Editor of the Daily Dispatch newspaper, Ben Ephson says he will present a bouquet of flowers to the former first lady Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings if she is able to get 30% of delegate votes in the upcoming congress of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Sunyani.

In an interview with Bernard Buachi on Focus fm, a Kumasi based radio station Wednesday July 6, the pollster said, “if Nana Konadu gets 30% of delegate votes, I will send her a bouquet of flowers; she would have done very well”.

Responding to a question about the effect a win for Konadu could have on the NDC, the editor said he will be surprised if that happens because that will mean a win for Nana Akuffo Addo in the 2012 presidential elections which the NDC will not want to happen.

“There is no way Nana Konadu will beat Nana Akuffo Addo in the 2012 elections”, he added.

He further stated that, “those who love Mr. Rawlings will ask themselves whether they will be better off under Prof. Mills and the NDC or Nana Addo and the NPP. That will be a deciding factor because they (NDC supporters) know they will lose the 2012 elections if they don’t endorse Prof. Mills”.

According to Mr. Ephson, NDC supporters will prefer being under President Atta Mills than Nana Akuffo Addo.

On the issue of supposed wrong timing by Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, Mr. Ephson said he doesn’t think the timing will ever be right for Nana Konadu due to the fact that Ghanaians and Africans abhor dynasty-like rule.

According to him, former President Rawlings had said in the late 90’s that he was not running a family dynasty.

“Kofi Adams has once said that Mrs. Rawlings is not a blood relation and so it cannot be dynasty. I reminded him about the first time the term was used by Mr. Rawlings in the 90’s when Mrs. Rawlings then First Lady exhibited signs of trying to contest.

Mr. Rawlings said on many occasions that he was not interested because he (Mr. Rawlings) was not interested in running a family dynasty. Brother to brother; father to son; husband to wife”.

“It is going to be difficult for floating voters to endorse that kind of thing”, he lamented.