'Nduom Is A Joker'

Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom, flag-bearer of the Convention People's Party (CPP) has incurred the wrath of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) over reports that he would free the incarcerated former boss of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Tsatsu Tsikata and put a stop to the trial of the former First Lady, Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, should he be voted into power.

Speaking to DAILY GUIDE , Frank Annoh-Dompreh, Secretary of the party's Identifiable Groups Committee, described the statement attributed to Dr. Nduom as “weird, cheap political talk and must have been made out of desperation and a realization that the December 7 polls is not one for the CPP. He wants to win the votes of people who have some sympathy for the two. That's all.”

Annoh-Dompreh said Mr. Tsikata was jailed by a court of competent jurisdiction after he had exhausted all avenues but was unable to clear his name in court in a trial that lasted a little over five years.

“For Dr. Nduom to say he would free Tsikata and end Nana Konadu's trial in the name of reconciliation is rather amusing; if people have been found guilty of a criminal offence and are being made to face the law in order to deter others from doing same, how does that impede reconciliation? That is the rule of law, that is justice and that is fair.”

Annoh-Dompreh said no Ghanaian is above the law and thus the trial of Mrs. Rawlings should not be made a political issue as long as she has all the chances and avenues to defend her name.

He questioned why Dr. Nduom did not breathe a word against the trial of the two persons all the while he had been in government but is only doing so now that he wants to be president.

“Nduom must be joking to think that he can delude Ghanaians into believing that he meant what he was saying about Mr. Tsikata and Mrs. Rawlings.

The state may pardon her after the ruling, that is if she is found guilty; but how can he end a case that the courts have not even decided on?

“That man now goes round saying all sorts of things against the NPP and making such wild statements and it is past time somebody took him on and put the facts straight. Nduom is not ready to be president; he only has an interest in taking the election into a run-off so he can go round to make all sorts of demands. Believe me, that would never happen; it would forever remain a fantasy,” he added.

Annoh-Dompreh accused Dr. Nduom of being a hypocrite and an opportunist, and dared him to show in which areas the NPP led-government had been incompetent or failed to live up to expectation as he had widely claimed.

He said when the CPP flag-bearer was a member of the NPP led-government, the former praised the government and said everything was correct and that the country was on the right course but only started to criticize the government when he developed the desire to become president.

“Even when the NPP Ministers who wanted to be president had all resigned, Nduom held on to his position until the last minute; he saw nothing wrong with anything. Since the day he resigned, he started to see that everything is wrong with this government,” the NPP man said, noting that Dr. Nduom lacked the competence and organizational skills required of a candidate ready for the presidency.

“You do not just get up and organize rallies in Accra and some regional centers and get some sizeable crowd and say you want to be president. How many party offices does he have in the country, what is his support base and where are his party structures? Would he borrow people from other parties to form his government or he would run a one-man administration?” Annoh-Dompreh quipped.

Asked if Dr. Nduom was a threat to the NPP, Annoh-Dompreh replied in the negative, and said Ghanaians have become very discerning and would not be swayed by the perceived eloquence of the CPP flag-bearer.

“That man rode to political fame on the shoulders of the NPP and might not have been where he is today if he had not been a Minister where he had a huge political platform. So as far as we are concerned, he is not a threat to our party and takes no vote from us.” By Halifax Ansah-Addo