Photo: Nana Rawlings Website The National Democratic Party (NDP) ended weeks of speculations by unanimously confirming former first lady Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings as its flag bearer for the December polls, scaling challenges thrown at it even as close as the eve of its congress in Kumasi last Saturday.
In her acceptance speech, Nana Konadu operationalised the infamous "People Matter; You Matter" slogan over which the two biggest parties bantered a few weeks ago by declaring: "I always put people first. Because I am, and I always will be, guided by moral obligation to support the needs of the people over politics. This is what I believe in. That is what our party stands for and that is what I stand for."
The endorsement of her candidature comes fifteen (15) months after losing out on the flag bearer slot of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) to then president John Evans Atta Mills, who subsequently died on July 24 this year.
In an apparent reference to the rout (96.9% to 3.1%) she got from the late Professor, she declared: "I know from personal experience that failure to reach a desired result is not the lack of success. No! We cannot fail from the collective courage of just trying and we are going to try...Rather, failure is staying down when you trip or stumble; it's giving up when your confidence is shaken; it's shutting down when your character is tested."
She continued: "I stand before you today because I have chosen... to become bolder and braver for you; for the people of Ghana. I have chosen to stay on course..."
She also recalled that "I have taken very unpopular decisions on issues," explaining, "it is because The NDP is founded on the belief of placing people, placing the human beings and the needs of the ordinary Ghanaian at the centre of the nation's development...NDP is born out of the need to transform this nation...to put it back on the right track."
Prior to her endorsement, former President Jerry John Rawlings delivered the long-awaited speech. In the speech, which lasted more than 20 minutes, he confirmed his association with the NDP by regularly using the collective pronoun "we."
Despite not making a definite endorsement of his wife, the innuendos he cast at the NDC were evident that he was with his wife as far as the electoral journey was concerned.
That act puts him at a risk, particularly because hours before he made his remarks, Deputy Energy Minister, Inusah Fuseini had resolved to lead a campaign for his expulsion from the NDC should he endorse his wife.
According to the website of Accra-base Citi FM, the Tamale Central Member of Parliament had stated that the NDC founder will be violating the laws of the very party he formed by his actions, hence, the need for his name to be expunged from the party's register.
"Speaking on Citi Fm's news and current affairs program, The Big Issue, the Deputy Energy Minister pointed out that 'if Jerry John Rawlings appears at the NDP congress and endorses Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, he will be violating certain provisions of the NDC Constitution and stands the risk of his name being expunged under Article 6'," citifmonnline.com reported.
The website also quoted Mr Fuseini as saying: 'We are in a country governed by rule of law and not rule of men... and I say in all sincerity, my reading of the NDC Constitution clearly shows that any person who holds himself in such a manner that contravenes the NDC Constitution and what the party stands for, stands the risk of a disciplinary action and that might lead to expunging the name of Jerry John Rawlings.'
According to the website, when asked by the host whether he would lead a crusade to expel the NDC founder, Mr. Fuseini answered, 'I will proudly lead that crusade.'
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