Former First Lady Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings has been explaining the circumstances that led to her resignation as the First Vice Chairperson of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Nana Konadu said she was compelled to resign her position due to the development of vote-buying in the party, raising fears among her supporters.
Mrs Rawlings caused a stir on Wednesday when she authored a letter addressed to the NDC General Secretary, resigning her position as a chairperson of the party to enable her to contest the party’s flagbearership race.
She noted in the letter: “Dear General Secretary, I have from this day April 13, 2011 resigned as vice chairperson of the National Democratic Congress.
“This will enable me respond to numerous calls on me to contest the flagbearership of the NDC when nominations are opened”.
Speaking in an interview on a number of radio stations in Kumasi, Nana Konadu said though she would have resigned her position at all cost, she did it earlier than anticipated in order to send a strong signal to her loyalists in general and delegates in particular that she was contesting the flagbearership position.
According to her, the move was to ensure that delegates who would entrust their mandate to her care were not ‘bought’ by people in the party who were using money to buy the votes of delegates.
The Mills camp had been accused of using cash to influence the delegates, especially in the recent mad rush to declare support for President Atta Mills.
The President of the 31st December Women’s Movement (DWM) said her continuous silence over her ambition was leaving doubts in the minds of the delegates as to whether she would contest or not.
“I needed to take this bold step to at least give a strong impression in the minds of delegates that I will contest the election so that they could make their minds and not allow themselves to be bought with money,” Nana Konadu emphasized.
She said her supporters and loyalists across the country were becoming confused and therefore were pressurizing her with incessant calls, enquiring whether she would contest or not.
The former first lady noted that over the past two weeks, the calls had been so intense that she had no other option but to break her silence over her ambition by first of all resigning her position as the party’s vice chairperson.
Nana Konadu indicated that the pressure even became massive when she addressed students of the University of Education, Kumasi branch, recently, where her presidential ambition was unveiled albeit tacitly.
“At that particular point in time, I could not say anything but indicated that I had the intent but was yet to make it official,” the former first lady said, stressing that she would formally declare her intentions at a press conference soon.
She noted that she was optimistic of emerging victorious in the race, pointing out that the so-called declaration of support for President Mills by some constituency and regional executives did not bother her at all.
Nana Konadu explained that she was not perturbed in the sense that the executives who were purported to have declared their support for President Mills called her and denied the reports vehemently.
She said some of the executives even told her that they were forced to append their signatures without knowing what the signatures were going to be used for and that they only heard in the media that they had declared their support for President Mills.
The former first lady noted that some of the executives had called to inform her that they were given money to append their signatures to be announced in the media that they had declared their support for President Mills.
“If all these things are happening in our party, why should I not be perturbed?” Nana Konadu stated, pointing out that the truth and reward for loyalty was going to be the deciding factor in the polls, and not money.
Source: Daily Guide
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