DAILY GUIDE -JJ’s New PR Agents

Gina Blay and JJ Rawlings

Wonders, they say shall never end. “Your worst enemy could be best friend… And your best friend, your worst enemy….” How related are these maxims to the unanticipated rising warmth relations between the family of former President and National Democratic Congress (NDC) Founder, Jerry John Rawlings and their once bitter foe, Daily Guide newspaper, owned by affable Mama Gina Blay and her hubby, Freddie Blay.

Gina Blay, CEO of Daily Guide and Hon Freddie Blay, a former Deputy Speaker of Ghanaian Parliament who claimed to have suffered persecution under Rawlings' revolution have never forgiven the former military strongman, Jerry Rawlings and his wife Nana Konadu.

The Blays, using the Gaily Guide newspaper, which was once described by then President Jerry Rawlings as “filthy and not even fit for toilet paper” never, missed an opportunity to 'fight' Rawlings and his regime.

For nearly a decade and half, front pages of the then Guide, which metamorphosed into Daily Guide was reserved for banner headlines of negative stories and tales of the Rawlinges, to the extent that, the paper was later to be christened Daily Rawlings by its critics.

Never a day passes without the Daily Guide newspaper splashing its front pages especially, of stories some of which are the paper's own concoctions followed by offensive cartooning of the former president, his wife and family.

However, all that seems to have changed, to the extent that Mr. Rawlings, who once equated the newspaper to toilet paper would even consider granting the Daily Guide an exclusive interview, praising the paper to the high heavens.

A careful review of stories in respect of the Rawlingses in the Daily Guide over the last 24 months would reveal to the shrewd mind that most of them are deliberately leaked from the Ridge residence of the former first couple.

And Jerry Rawlings' special aide, Kofi Adams gave alluded to this fact, albeit, inadvertently about collaborations between the offices of the former president and opposition inclined media including The New Statesman, when the alleged infamous tape recording conversation between him and Gabby Asare Otchere Darko broke out.

According to Kofi Adam, during the height of the FONKAR/GAME brouhaha, Gabby's newspaper and some other private owned newspapers aligned to the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) helped in disseminating and publishing works of the candidate he supported, Nana Konadu, since most of the pro- NDC government newspapers were unwilling to give her that opportunity.

“It does not make any sense…it is not possible for me to make such a call… there is nothing credible in the story. Gabby Otchere Darko has been my friend for a very long time and I have never said anything of that sort to him…I have been speaking to him because he does some work relating to the work I do….All that I can say is that no attempt to vilify my person will succeed…,” Kofi Adams said.

A name that is repeatedly revealing itself on our intelligence radar is the bosom family 'friend' of the Rawlingses and international businessman, Herbert Mensah, whose 'boy' is a senior reporter of the Daily Guide in Kumasi.

Joe Awuah Junior, the protégé of Mr Mensah, though is based in Kumasi reports most of the exclusives around the Rawlingses.

Whether it's the alleged security tape of a GHS90 million campaign slush funds , dawn phone calls from President Mills begging Rawlings, to 'I Don't Need JJ – Says Mills', through “JJ Snubs NDC Gurus” to NDC Begs Konadu with Volta Chiefs; Herbert Mensah, the international business man and football administrator is alleged to be in the known.

The latest which has heavily backfired is the 'JJ TELLS MILLS… VOMIT WOYOME CASH' story alleging that “the NDC founder Jerry John Rawlings, has given a tall list of possible Mills administration officials he wants to see sacked within the next two months before he (Rawlings) will join the 2012 campaign of the NDC…

Another condition “ is that the GH¢51.2 million fraudulently paid to Alfred Agbesi Woyome for his so-called 'financial engineering', when there is no proof of work done for the government, should be refunded within the next two months, possibly before the next celebration of June 4, sources close to the meeting held with Volta regional chiefs have told Daily Guide”.

The backlash from this report compelled the Office of former President John Rawlings to hurriedly deny the story whiles expressing indignation and disdain, within 24 hours of hitting the newsstands.

In a statement captioned RE: 'JJ Tells Mills Vomit Woyome Cash', and signed by Kobina Andoh Amoakwa, Communications Director at the office of the former President said “We wish to state categorically that the report authored by Charles Takyi Boadu is false…

“While we do not wish to delve into the details of what was discussed in deference to the delegation of chiefs who requested for privacy in the full glare of the media including your reporter, we have to state that at no point during the meeting did President Rawlings issue conditions and ultimatums to the NDC government.

President Rawlings's contributions at the meeting were summarized by his spokesperson, Mr. Kofi Adams and we find it unprofessional and absurd that your reporter attempted to question the veracity and accuracy of the presentation by Mr. Adams”.

The statement concluded by blaming elements in government for rather 'planting' the story to court sympathy. “

“This Office wonders if the report is not a conspiracy by certain political elements to generate misguided animosity within the current political dispensation designed to court the usual political sympathy for the government”.