Vanguard story on Rawlings is baseless

................and outrageous
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has described a newspaper publication, which alleged that Ex-President Rawlings was planning a coup against the government as baseless and outrageous.

It said the story reported by the Vanguard, "Has the fingerprints of most of the devious and mischievous minds in the present regime who either want to divert public attention from the economic quagmire the New Patriotic Party (NPP) finds it self in".

A statement signed by Dr Josiah Aryeh, NDC General Secretary, said the story, which with the caption "J.J Plots Bloody Coup Again" alleged that former President Rawlings was plotting to overthrow the Kufuor's administration and that the NDC had recruited a Mallam to provide spiritual cover for the impending coup d' etat.

The NDC it said viewed the publication as not only irresponsible and diversionary, but absolutely inimical to the interest of the nation.

The statement said, "The vanguard newspaper has acquired notoriety for publishing scurrilous and unfounded allegations, which border on security and tends to incite the population against critics and opponents of the NPP government".

It said the NDC believed this could lead to breakdown of law and order, and called the Ministers of Defence and Interior, the National Security Coordinator and the Inspector General of Police to initiate investigation into the matter.

The statement reiterated the party's commitment to multi-party democracy, adding that, it would under no circumstances condone or countenance any attempt to subvert the constitutional order.

The party also said Former President Rawlings was fully committed to the preservation of the constitutional order, which he nurtured to his credit.

It appealed to the public to ignore the publication and not to allow it to divert attention from the NPP government's failure to deliver on its electoral promises.

The said as the largest opposition party it would continue to play its part to sustain democracy to bring better life to the people of Ghana.

The statement said the NDC was taking steps to bring the issue to the attention of the National Media Commission.

It was also considering legal action against the newspaper, which had carried other anti-NDC stories, including one captioned, "Thugs to storm Court".