Written by Alhaji Bature Iddrisu
Dr. Obed Yao Asamoah, Life-Patron of the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) and Ghana's longest serving Attorney-General and Foreign Affairs Minister under Jerry John Rawlings' administrations, has finally broken his silence on the political scene of the country after a long period of hibernation.
The silence, according to him, was to afford him adequate time and opportunity to begin the process of compiling his memoirs. A former Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and Law Lecturer, Dr. Asamoah broke his silence in an exclusive interview he granted Mr. Ernest Kwabena Adakabre Frimpong Manso, host of Adom fm morning show 'Dwaso Nsem', at his McCarthy Hill residence in Accra last Wednesday.
He spoke on a wide range of issues including his early political carrier, the performance of President Mills so far, and his involvement and exit from the NDC. He also touched on the murder of the High court Judges in 1982, the credentials and capacity of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Flagbearer for the 2012 Presidential election, Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, and his sour relations with his former boss ex-President Jerry John Rawlings among others.
Dr. Asamoah in the eyes of the listening public, no doubt, acquitted himself quite creditably, at least judging from the public reactions to his presentation.
Indeed, some of Dr. Obed Asamoah's narrations and judgments, especially his submissions on goings-on in the NDC, unknown to the 'outsider', may pass for the 'absolute' truth. The
Bilingual Free Press has been doing some 'work' on the National Democratic Congress since its formation in 1992, and beginning from this edition, we shall be leading our cherished readers and indeed the world into some of the 'hard facts' and the true full story about the NDC, most especially, those related to the issues raised by the party's former Chairman, Dr Asamoah.
In the interview with Adakabre Frimpong Manso, Dr. Asamoah subtly tried to ridicule President Mills as unworthy of his current position, as leader of NDC and by extension, as President of Ghana, as far as the pedigree, contributions and organizational support of the wife of the party's founder, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, are concerned.
He also questioned the legality and status of the 'Founder' position conferred on Jerry John Rawlings. Dr. Asamoah went on to chastise Mr. Rawlings for betraying him in the selection of a running-mate to partner Professor Mills in the 2000 Presidential elections. He further described the then conduct of John Evans Atta-Mills in the selection of a Vice Presidential candidate for the party as hypocritical.
We are going to critically look at these issues one after the other to determine their motive and relevance. This, we intend to do, to enable us the
Bilingual Free Press and our readers to establish whether the submissions of Dr. Obed Asamoah constituted a fair and just appreciation of the issues.
Why did Obed Asamoah elevate Nana Konadu to those high moral grounds ahead of Professor Mills? Why did he praise her to high heavens and virtually rubbished Jerry Rawlings, her husband and founder of the party he once chaired? Was he factual and sincere in his analyses in the interview? And would Dr. Asamoah ever forgive Professor Mills and Rawlings? By the time answers are proffered to these questions posed, we should have had the real 'inside' of why Dr. Asamoah did on that faithful Wednesday.
Obed, as he is affectionately called, and Nana Konadu were not the best of 'friends' prior to the 2000 general elections, over management and control of party resources though they both headed the party's Finance committee. This did not affect Obed Asam0ah's excellent working relationship with then President Rawlings, until the issue of selecting Professor Atta-Mills as running-mate came up. His sour relation with Nana Konadu and her husband, Jerry Rwalings, worsened when the NDC lost power, and has since been so.
Dr. Asamoah's warmth with Rawlings began to deteriorate after Rawlings was 'unable' to persuade Mills to make him a running-mate to the then candidate Mills and further took a nose dive after the elections, when Rawlings thought Obed failed or refused to account properly for his handling of the party's cash.
All this while, Dr. Asamoah was also angered by Mills' decision to dump him for his Deputy at the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General, Martin Hamidu, as his running-mate for the 2000 Presidential elections.
Today the whole world is being told by Dr. Obed Asamoah, a former chainnan of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), that the best thing yet to happen to the NDC is to select Nana Konadu, ahead of sitting President Mills, as Leader and Presidential candidate for the 2012 elections, provided she makes herself available. According to Obed, Konadu's support, organizational skills and general contributions towards the NDC cause tower far above those of Mills, and she is therefore most suitable between the two to lead the party come 2012.
In Part II of the 'full untold story' series, the Bilingual Free Press writes about what it says is a secret pact between Rawlings and Dr. Asamoah, the role of the 'Fante' Confederation and why Obed has sworn to 'deal' with Rawlings, Konadu and Professor Mills.
Credit: Bilingual Free Press
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