Rawlings Meets Ga Chiefs, Fetish Priests

President Rawlings yesterday met with a select group of Ga chiefs and fetish priests at the Castle, Osu, and pleaded with them to influence their constituents to vote for Prof. John Evans Atta-Mills in the run-off on December 28.

Castle sources say the closed-door meeting which started at 9:30am and ran late into the afternoon, ended with assurances from the chiefs that they would get into the trenches and ask their subjects to vote for Prof. Mills. After the meeting, President Rawlings feted the chiefs and their retinue at the Castle gardens with food and drinks.

The chiefs left at about 4:30pm with goodies. Chronicle learnt that the NDC has adopted influencing chiefs nationwide as one of their core strategies to win the run-off. President Rawlings is expected to lead this move, and NDC sources say, he would not allow cameras to follow him on such missions.

Such moves paid off during the December 7 elections in some parts of the country, the latest being, the Lower and Upper Manya constituencies in the Eastern Region and Ada of Songhor lagoon salt fame in the Greater Accra region where one Dr. George Kugblenu of the Castle led the retinue of gift- bearers.

But Ga opinion leaders and ordinary workers Chronicle spoke to, wondered how their chiefs are going to influence them when they made their own choices of their own free will. "It will not work, we are no fools, we respect our various chiefs but we can tell them our piece of mind if they do", said one.

Similar moves have been initiated in the Central and Western Region. It is believed that Mr. Ato Dadzie, Chief of Staff is part of that mission since he had reported sick and has vamoosed from The Castle.

Those manning the Castle and National Security office on full time basis these days are deputies like Mr. Allotey of Totobi Quakyi's office and Alhaji Osman. Major Kuufe is another of those manning strategic distributions, Chronicle intelligence has learnt.