Rawlings Condemns Bede Ziedeng

The acting General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr. Bede Ziedeng must have experienced a sad moment in his political life at the Eredic Hotel, at the weekend when the founder and leader of the party, condemned him for what appeared to be a harmless pronouncement he made at a Regional Delegates congress in Koforidua

Flt Lt J.J. Rawlings described Mr. Bede Ziedeng's remarks as 'nonsense' to the apparent surprise and disappointment of party members, including some National Executive members, when he mounted the platform to address the Eastern Regional NDC Delegates Congress at the weekend.

“There is no sense what he has said. He has not got any key in his pocket. The key is in your (delegates) hands,” he yelled. This was in apparent reaction to the acting General Secretary's pronouncement to impress the delegates when he was given the chance to mount the platform and said that he has “got the key to the NPP's rigging machinery” in his pocket and would “produce it in 2008 to ensure the defeat of the ruling government. This did not go down well with the former president who subjected

Mr. Bede Ziedeng to humiliation before the teeming supporters.Flt Lt. Rawlings aggravated the situation when he openly declared that Mr. Asiedu Nketia alias General Mosquito, was the best candidate for the post of General-Secretary, a position, Mr. Bede Ziedeng is also contesting in the party. Some the delegates, soon after the condemnation, said that all was not well in their beloved NDC.

Meanwhile, 'Times' investigations at the congress revealed that majority of the members in the Volta Region have threatened to desert the party if the founder does not patch up all the existing differences before the National Delegates Congress slated for December 16, 17 and 18, 2005 at Koforidua, the Eastern Regional Capital.

Addressing the delegates, Flt. Lt Rawlings accused the NPP government of amassing wealth more than all the past governments put together in the county. “Kufuor's government is the most corrupt in the annals of Ghana's history,” he said. The former president who took a swipe at the foreign minister, Nana Akufo Addo, said that the NPP government had reduced the status and dignity of the Ghana Airforce who were made to carry the coffin containing the remains of Akufo Addo's mother (former first lady) at Kyebi.

He said that the NDC did not need to use money to defeat the NPP in the 2008 elections but would use the truth and the reality on the ground to vote the government out and called on members to work hard towards victory for the party.