The former Deputy Minister of Energy, Kobina Tahir Hammond has described Dr. Obed Yao Asamoah and the NDC returnees as ungrateful people who lack moral uprightness. Mr. Hammond was quick to add President Mills to the list of ungrateful people expressing his shock at the President, for condoning verbal attacks on the former President despite knowing that it was the same president Rawlings who held his hand, coached him and nurtured him into politics. He explained that Dr. Obed Asamoah, Goosie Tandoh and Kojo Tsikata left the NDC because former President Rawlings chose and stood by President Mills as the candidate to lead the party, in disagreement with many members who rejected Prof. Mills. He therefore wondered why these same people have returned to the person they fought against. “I don’t like Rawlings but to sideline and insult him because he disagrees with President Mills after introducing him to politics is the height of disrespect”, he said. Speaking on Adom FM’s weekly talk show Dea Mehunu broadcast on Wednesday night, Mr. Hammond described Dr. Asamoah as one of the politicians who have benefited hugely from the government of former President Rawlings; having worked as the Foreign Affairs Minister, Attorney General and Minister of Justice, insisting that to turn around against the former President after he had given him such opportunities is an indication of a lack of morality. He said it is unfair for President Mills and his supporters to humiliate former President Rawlings and expect him to campaign for him in the 2012 elections, adding that, it was the same person who signed the party’s manifesto with his blood. Asked about the future of President Mills, Mr. Hammond advised the former president to leave the NDC and form his own party if he believes he is popular and is capable of growing a party as the National Democratic Congress. He emphasized that the NDC cannot survive without Rawlings. He accused Dr. Asamoah of double standards citing an incident when Dr. Asamoah insisted on maintaining the criminal libel law in the law books and even saying the repeal will be ‘over his dead body’. Responding to calls for the NPP to rather focus on their own party and the challenges within it, the Adansi Asokwa MP emphasized that they remain focused but added that there was the need to draw attention to the problems in the NDC to demonstrate to the electorates that the party has lost control over its own internal affairs and cannot resolve the challenges facing the nation. Asked about Nana Addo’s listening campaign, Mr. Hammond maintained that the party remains the preferred choice to govern the nation in 2012. He rubbished the factionalism within the NPP, claiming that the NPP is more united and those initial factions that emerged in the party have been dissolved as a result of the entrenched democratic principles of the party. The Member of Parliament for Ejumako Enyan Esiam and former coordinator of the Get Atta Mills Endorsed (GAME) team in the central region, Ato Forson challenged the NPP to "mind their own business" adding that the NPP has more factions within their party than the NDC. He described Nana Addo’s Central regional tour as ‘playful’ adding that he is only visiting his own NPP members and cannot win additional votes in the region. He said the concerns raised by the Konadu 2012 campaign team are baseless, but he added that the party was committed to resolving the minor differences that have emerged after the Sunyani Congress. Story by Afia Pokuaa/Adom News/Ghana