Tension Brews Between JJ & Mills (5)

Even though the opposition National Democratic Congress has vowed to severe ties with ‘The Vanguard’ for reasons known to it, what top echelons of the party have failed to realise is that traditionally, The Vanguard is ranked as one of the most authoritative paper in the country.

Vowed to this conviction, the NDC has not invited ‘The Vanguard’ to any of its functions, be it a press conference or a meeting of its National Executive Council meetings.

However the NDC is amazed at the depth of reportage ‘The Vanguard ‘carries whenever it holds any function of a sort that even its mouthpiece, ‘Ghana Palaver’ falls short of coverage. And ‘The Vanguard’ can report authoritatively that a birthday bash held for the NDC flag bearer, Prof. John Atta Mills at Kuuku Hill on the 21st July, 2003, all the invited guests turned up to add glamour to the professors 59th birthday celebration except part founder Jerry John Rawlings. There is a growing feud between the two over the choice of a running mate.

Conspicuously missing too was party chairman, Dr. Obed Yao Asamoah. Reports say aside of the raging conflict between Prof. Mills and his master, Jerry Rawlings, part of the reason the founder choose to dump Mills on his day of joy was to avoid a meeting with Dr. Obed Asamoah. Rawlings recently described Dr. Asamoah to a Vanguard Intelligence team as a “Crook”. But in attendance at the birthday party were old party foxes including Ex-NDC Ministers, Ex-DCE’s, Ex-NDC Convicts, Ex-Members of the Council of State, some Chiefs and some selected journalists mostly created by the NDC. There was so much wine and booze that one NDC fanatic loosely shouted loudly that “NDC Ehedzo Bodoo, NPP Ehedo Shoo”. To writ, with the NDC there is plenty to eat and spare whilst with the NPP, life has become exceedingly unbearable.

In a chat with Mr. Spio Gabrah, former Ghana’s Ambassador to the United States and later Minister of Communications at the function, Prof. Mills impressed upon the former Minister to cut short his working duty at the Commonwealth Secretariat by one year since he, Atta Mills has already allotted him a Ministerial post in his cabinet come 2004. Spio childishly obliged. At the end of the Mills birthday bash, he was asked to nominate someone to round it all up. The NDC flagbearer raced to the direction of Mr. Ato Ahwoi and told the cheering guests that “behold this is the man who introduced me to politics”.