A younger brother of former President Dr. Hilla Limann has criticised the leadership of the People’s National Convention (PNC) for failing to reach a decision on which party to endorse in the run-off. The man, who referred to himself as Limann IV, said if the PNC executives had considered the overthrow of Dr. Limann, their meeting on Tuesday would not have ended in a deadlock. He said a little brush with history would have put the PNC right on the matter. “We are saying that they should look at the past, they should look at it,” he demanded. Dr Hilla Limann was on 1981 deposed by the former President Jerry Rawlings through a "peaceful" coup. Limann the IV, who said he was next to his brother by birth, said although the PNC had taken a neutral stance, aligning with the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) would have been a better option. A meeting of the 36-member national executive committee of the PNC on Tuesday hit a deadlock as party members were split on which party the PNC must support in the run-off. Joy News’ Sammy Darko reported that there was tension at the party’s headquarters as executives exchange words. The Convention People’s Party (CPP) was the first party to decide to sit on the fence in the run-off and not support any of the frontrunners of the December 7 presidential election. Officials of the CPP have however served notice the party could endorse either the ruling NPP or the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), ahead of the second round of balloting billed for December 28. Meanwhile a leading member of the CPP said a decision by the party’s national executives in the December run-off does not reflect the true outcome of the meeting in which the decision is reported to have been taken. Chairman of the United Kingdom and North American branch, Alhaji Mahamadu Abass, told Luv News the meeting did not reach a consensus on the matter. The northern regional executives of the CPP have decided to support the NDC in the run-off.

The man Limann

Dr. Limann worked as the Head, Europe Desk, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ghana between 1965 and 1968. During 1967, he was a member of the Constitution Commission which drafted the 1969 Constitution of Ghana . In 1968, he became the Head of Chancery/Official Secretary at the Ghana embassy in Lome, Togo. He was appointed Counsellor at Ghana's Permanent Mission in Geneva, Switzerland in 1971. He assumed the position of Head, Europe, the Americans Southeast Asia Desk back in Ghana at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in June 1975. Politics Following the 1979 coup led by Jerry Rawlings, Limann, though almost unknown even in Ghana, was elected President on the People's National Party (PNP) ticket. He stood for the elections following the disqualification of Alhaji Imoru Egala by the then ruling Supreme Military Council and won 62% of the popular vote in the second round of voting. Dr. Limann assumed office as president on September 24, 1979. He was an economic moderate, and supported democratic values and Pan-Africanism. He was deposed in a coup by Rawlings on December 31, 1981. He thus was the only president of the third republic of Ghana. In 1992, at the end of the PNDC military rule that overthrew him. Dr. Limann again got involved in politics and stood as the candidate of the People's National Convention in the presidential election that year. He received 6.7% of the popular vote in the elections, coming third. He remained active among the Nkrumahist political movement in Ghana. Death Dr. Limann had chronic health problems and finally died of natural causes. He was survived by his wife, Mrs. Fulera Limann, and seven children: Lariba Montia (née Limann), Baba Limann, Sibi Andan (née Limann), Lida Limann, Danni Limann, Zilla Limann and Salma Limann. Addendum After the handover ceremony in 1979, Military intelligence personnel consistently reported destabilising activities of former members of the AFRC. Dr. Limman insisted that there were no legal justifications to hold them in custody under a democratic dispensation. This decision eventually cost him the presidency and the years of humiliation and alienation he suffered at the hands of the Rawlings administration. Author: Fiifi Koomson with additional material from Mediawiki