Feature Article of Sunday, 29 April 2012Columnist: Hardi, Ibrahim It is just too amazing, the hypocritical moves supposedly aimed at reconciling Former President Rawlings and the current leadership of the party he sacrificed his life and safety to form and now the governing party. Just as the clocks tickle and bells ring towards the 2012 elections, many silent voices in the past have suddenly started crying aloud, from far and near, day and night, to reunite the former first couple and the leadership of the NDC. The feigned zeal and alacrity with which this “fake” reconciliation is being pursued is what baffles me most, and by extension expose the lust, greed and anger in the ruling party,NDC.

The recent reconciliatory call on the former first family by some chiefs from the Volta Region coupled with the initiative of the so called “Conference of Regional Ministers” or “Conference of Regional Chairmen”are but just few of the desperate yet hypocritical attempts to get the former president,Jerry Rawlings on the NDC election 2012 trail. Come to talk of its worthiness; we all know the magic former president Rawlings can do to resuscitate the sunken spirits of grass root supporters of the NDC who have been disenchanted by the leadership ineptitude and administrative somersault in the Mills government, precipitated by the repudiation of the fundamental principles on which the party was embedded. But in all sincerity, is that really necessary? I was shocked to bone marrow, when I heard the wide mouthed NDC General Secretary Asiedu Nketia on some radio stations suddenly acknowledging Former President Rawlings as the NDC Founder and “father” of the party and relishing the relevance of Mr Rawlings to NDC victory in 2012.

When, did the likes of Asiedu Nketia and his connoisseurs in government realize the need to accord Mr Rawlings the respect he deserves as the founder of the NDC party? Why have the regional ministers and even the chiefs in the Volta region suddenly seen the need to intervene and reconcile the NDC, when they were better positioned to have done that in the past or even prevent the conundrum from exacerbating this far? “Lead us not to temptation” is always a wiser prayer in politics than “deliver us from evil”. Professor Atta Mills and the NDC leadership had spurned numerous chances and time offered them to restore peace and harmony in the NDC. The acts and omissions of some party leaders and government officials clearly pointed to a well-orchestrated political agenda to intimidate, humiliate and vilify the former first couple and as well impugn their credibility and relevance in the NDC. They demonized the iconic figure in the party whose individual efforts and instrumentality won President Mills and his “saints” the power that has now clouded their consciousness like a drug and has caused them to rubbish the cardinal principles of conviction, probity and accountability. President Mills and his “boot lickers” obviously misconstrued the insistence of Mr. Rawlings on the need to respect these values on whose back the NDC rode to power.to mean the latter courted sympathy and garnered support for the presidential ambitions of his wife Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings.

The machinations and intimidation unleashed against Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings and us(FONKAR) in the Sunyani congress and the consistent victimization of sympathizers of the former family clearly pointed to the ill-intentions of the disguised saboteurs of the government and the NDC. The recent arrest and detention of our talisman Mr Owusu Bempah and subsequent suspension of Mr. Kofi Adams, all on flimsy grounds that lack locus, vindicates the victimization of friends and associates of the former first couple. This, undoubtedly, is a mockery to the party unity we preach. The right thing must be done – the NDC leadership and government must shun the mediocrity and self-aggrandizement and rather rise to the standards of the values and principles of the party, which remain the concern of the former president Jerry John Rawlings. No chief, cadre or regional minister will be needed to plead the former president to the campaign trail once the dignity or sanity is restored in the NDC.

Like it or not Jerry Rawlings is the icon of the NDC party. Let those who have eyes see and those who have ears listen; the house is dirty and needs a comprehensive cleaning before the inevitable cholera strike in December 2012.

Long live Fonkar

Long live his excellency Jerry John Rawlings and the wife Nana Konadu,

Long live ndc

Long live Ghana.

Ibrahim Hardi,deputy national organiser,Fonkar Email;bigkolaaya@yahoo.com