It seems there is a deep rift between President John Dramani Mahama and Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, former first lady and wife of the founder of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), as the president had allegedly refused to have any kind of meeting with the lady.
Members of Friends of Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings (FONKAR) claim that they had made some efforts on three occasions to visit the president together with the former first lady but the office of the president had allegedly refused to respond to their request.
“We have written about three letters to the office of the president indicating that members of FONKAR and the 2012 flagbearer of the National Democratic Party (NDP), Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, will want to visit the president but there had been no response up till now,” they alleged.
The FONKAR members were responding to a question as to why they recently visited the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and left the president, during a press conference they organized in Takoradi on Tuesday.
The National Coordinator of FONKAR, Joseph Badiako, explained that the group is a non-governmental organization that supports the NDP flagbearer, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings.
He said that since the NDP had not been in power, it had no track records and assured that FONKAR would continue to preach and explain the enviable achievements of the NPP to the people because the party’s track record surpasses that of the NDC.
“FONKAR will support the NPP in all radio discussions and protests against the inhumane policies of the NDC government to ensure that Ghanaians vote out the incompetent government,” Bediako indicated.
He alleged that information reaching FONKAR members indicated that the Electoral Commission was collaborating with the ruling government to disqualify the former first lady from contesting in the 2016 general election as the flagbearer of the NDP. . He noted that the NDP is a registered political party and has strong membership base across the 10 regions of Ghana.
He mentioned that the NDP had proven to be an alternative to the incompetent administration of the NDC, stressing that the former would be in power after the general election this year.
Mr Bediako claimed that the NDP broke away from the NDC in the build-up to the 2012 general election largely due to the NDC’s inability to fight corruption and instead infringed on freedom of speech in the party.
“The NDP has become a headache to the NDC hence, the series of calculated attempts aimed at disorganizing the NDP’s front, including inducing people with money to say all sorts of things against the party,” he noted.
The FONKAR National Coordinator pointed out that a clear case was what transpired a few days ago when some former members of the NDP held a press conference to announce their purported defection to the Progressive People’s Party (PPP).
He indicated that the alleged defectors made an allegation to the effect that the NDP was not attractive hence, the decision by Dr. Zanetor Rawlings to contest the Klottey Korle seat on the ticket of the NDC.
“We are not perturbed about what happened and other developments; in any case, Dr Zanetor is more than 18 years and she is entitled to freedom of association enshrined in the Constitution,” he stressed.
