Ohene-Ntow, others must go

-Obodai Torto
Posted: The Chronicle |Thursday, January 14, 2010

By Charles Takyi - Boadu

The admission by the National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr. Peter Mac Manu and his General Secretary, Nana Ohene-Ntow, that their total actions and inactions caused the defeat of the government, has sparked deep-seated emotions in the party. This has compelled some key and influential members of the party to call for a complete overhaul of the national executives of the party.
One of such persons, who is not happy with the comments of the party Chairman and his General Secretary, is the Chairman of the Tertiary Education Confederacy of the NPP, and Ranking member of the party’s Youth Wing, Ishmeal Pius Obodai Torto.

He believes the time has come for the party to say goodbye to Mac Manu, although he is not seeking re-election, and Nana Ohene-Ntow, both of whom may have contributed to the party’s defeat in the 2008 general elections in one way or the other.

Speaking in an interview with the paper in Accra recently, Pius said - “I think all the executives who contributed to the loss of the party must exit for fresh ideas to come on board.”

He further said “Recently, I heard Nana Ohene-Ntow blaming the executives for the loss of the party. He claims they did not listen to his suggestions, but come to think of it, Ohene-Ntow was the Chief Executive of the party when we were in power. So if he is laying the blame at the doorsteps of the executive, then I think he is the first person to take the major blame.”

He, however, stressed the need for the delegates to consider voting those who performed creditably among the outgoing current national officers.

Mills has divided attention -Akomea

Posted: The Chronicle |Thursday, January 14, 2010

By Charles Takyi - Boadu

A former Information Minister and the Member of Parliament (MP) for Okaikoi South, Nana Akomea, has told The Chronicle that the struggle for control of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) has affected the performance of the Atta Mills government. According to him, President Mills now has divided attention, which is making it impossible for him to focus on the development of the country. In an interview with The Chronicle in Accra yesterday, Mr. Akomea said whilst trying to fix the multiple challenges facing the economy, President Mills also has to deal with difficulty of containing Mr. Rawlings, who is trying to block his re-election as the presidential candidate of the party. “Because it affects the future of the President himself, he cannot sit down unconcerned, so he will be distracted right up to when the NDC elects its presidential candidate,” he noted, adding “It is normal that when you have this kind of threat from, not less a person, than the founder of your party, it will naturally affect your performance.” He however cautioned that if the NDC did not find ways to end this kind of strife, it could affect its delivery in subsequent years. The situation, he said, had become so bad that even before the end of his first year in office President Mills was compelled to come out to say that he would stand for re-election, since doubts had been expressed about his ability to seek re-election. “Jerry Rawlings himself has said sometime ago, that Mills should take his government and he will take the party. Subsequently, you have people like Spio Garbrah, who is perceived to be in Rawlings camp, and Mrs. Rawlings herself, all declaring their intentions to contest for executive positions in the NDC. “This shows the intensity and extent of division and infighting in the ruling party,” he emphasised. He therefore stressed the need for the ruling party to manage its affairs properly, since it was having a direct bearing on the country’s development. Whilst admitting that what was currently going on in the NDC was internal democracy like that of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), between the Nana Addo and Alan Kyerematen factions, the Okaikoi South MP said, “the danger is that the division in the NDC is so deep, and the personalities involved are quite big ones.” He further said one cannot equate what is going on in NDC to that of NPP, because the latter was not in government, but in opposition. “When we were in government, Kufuor didn’t have this kind of terrible factionalism in the party.” Nana Akomea said the stakes are higher, for the simple reason that the Founder and the President are at each other’s throats, saying authoritatively, “this is the first time that you have a sitting President being actively challenged for re-election in his own party.” He asked, “why would the Rawlings faction be trying to take over the party, and why would the Mills faction also be trying to resist them, it’s all because of the presidential primary. Obviously, Mr. Rawlings’ faction wants to take over the party, so they can use the party machinery to block Mills from seeking re-election.”