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General News of Monday, 4 February 2008

Source: Henry Acquah,

Stop Baseless Media Allegations -JJ Cautions NDC

The Former President has urged all members of the NDC to respect Prof Mills’ unequivocal assertion that he is in the right mental and physical state of health. President Rawlings views the stories making the rounds on Prof Mills’ health as very disturbing and described as particularly disgraceful a recent posting on the worldwide web that the NDC Presidential candidate had given up the ghost in South Africa.

A statement issued by the office of the former president, stated that the attention of the Founder of the National Democratic Congress, has also been drawn to a series of media reports and commentaries on the health of the party’s Presidential candidate and insinuations that the former President is behind a “Bring Mills Down” campaign.

According to the release, the Ex-President has at all times maintained close contact with Prof Mills and is not unaware of Prof Mills’ condition and his ability to help rid this country of the opportunists who are convinced they now own our country.

President Rawlings however believes that every member of the NDC still has the right to open discourse and raise concerns even about the health of the party leader when need be, but this must be done with utmost circumspection and decorum as the medical status of a person can only be commented on if one has facts to support it. The release mentioned that the former President finds it disturbing and very mischievous the way some persons who claim to love the NDC are casting aspersions that he and his wife are behind the myriad of media reports on Prof Mills’ health. President Rawlings is of the view that a few NDC personalities have become so intoxicated with the smell of (personal) power and hate for Rawlings and the wife to the extent of not seeing how their greed, selfishness and lust are becoming an obstacle to NDC’s victory and Ghana’s redemption. Their activities rather go to create an atmosphere of disunity and discontentment within the party. Such indiscretions clearly become cannon fodder for our opponents who have been using their friends in the media to propagate a campaign of vitriolic attacks on President Rawlings and other leading members of our great party. “The deeds of these individuals and their machinery must be stopped- and this must be done by all before the hope of Ghanaians is dashed once again by our collective failure to act,” the release stated. According to President Rawlings, Ghana is at the precipice of a political disaster because of the mismanagement of every aspect of the nation’s social fabric by the New Patriotic Party initially led by J. A. Kufuor and now having Nana Akufo Addo as its Presidential candidate.

“Having recognised how formidable the opposition has become because of the gross disenchantment of Ghanaians and recognising the fact that a clean campaign will lead to an embarrassing loss in December the NPP supported by sections of the media who lack ethics and balance in their reportage have resorted to mudslinging and below-the-belt tactics to win the election,” the statement continued. President Rawlings as Founder of the NDC also enjoined all party members and sympathizers alike to pursue the interests of the party in an atmosphere that will sow unity and strength and lead the party onto victory in December.