I’m A “Winnable Candidate”; I Don’t Need JJ Or Nana Konadu Claims Mills

Friends of Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings (FONKAR) is laying blame at the doorstep of the leader of the party; President J.E.A. Mills for perpetuating the cracks of division within the NDC which they claimed have deepened to almost unbearable proportions.

The group claims issues of corruption, obvious mismanagement and lack of accountability by the Mills government and some party executives are sinking the NDC ship.

FONKAR, which went on a transitory hibernation, noted that their fleeting silence on the media landscape created the false impression that FONKAR has been dissolved or silenced.

Announcing its decision to return to the media domain and “speak up” on issues of national concern, FONKAR, in a statement issued on Monday, descended heavily on President Mills for purportedly saying at a recent Peduase Lodge meeting that he is a “winnable candidate” without the founder of the party, ex-president Jerry John Rawlings at his side.

“In a meeting with some party executives and government appointees at the Peduase Lodge a few days ago, President Evans Atta Mills emphatically stated he wanted nothing to do with the party founder and Nana Konadu. Mills further added that he is a winnable candidate who neither needs J.J. Rawlings nor Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings to win the 2012 general election. We have no doubt that this decision by the president is a product of ill-advise from the same sycophants, flatterers and ingrates who are bent on taking the NDC into opposition and destroy the Rawlings legacy for their own parochial interests,” the statement said.

Read below the full statement:

PRESS STATEMENT – FONKAR

IMMEDIATE RELEASE – FEB 27TH 2012

Friends of Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings wishes to announce our return into the media domain with debates concerning our great party the NDC and Ghana in general after our brief withdrawal from media engagements in order to control what seemed to have been an abuse of the FONKAR platform by opportunistic groups and usurpers purporting to represent our interests.

Our decision to ‘speak up’ stems from our resolute commitment to the NDC’s principles of probity and accountability, integrity and social justice as well as our stance against corruption in governance.

Our brief silence on the media landscape has created the false impression that FONKAR has been dissolved or silenced.

Friends of Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings have not been dissolved.

We remain resolute in our stance to defend the truth, and to preserve and protect the core values of our founder J.J. Rawlings, on which the NDC party was founded.

It is no longer in doubt that the cracks of division within our great party, the NDC, have deepened to almost unbearable proportions. The leader who has ultimate responsibility to resolve these issues is himself perpetuating this division.

Actions taken by the president and leader of NDC since he came into office indicate his deliberate orchestration of the demise of the NDC. President Mills has shunned any event that celebrates the history of the National Democratic Congress; he has shunned our values of probity and accountability.

In a meeting with some party executives and government appointees at the Peduase Lodge a few days ago, President Evans Atta Mills emphatically stated he wanted nothing to do with the party founder and Nana Konadu. Mills further added that he is a winnable candidate who neither needs J.J. Rawlings nor Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings to win the 2012 general election.

We have no doubt that this decision by the president is a product of ill-advise from the same sycophants, flatterers and ingrates who are bent on taking the NDC into opposition and destroy the Rawlings legacy for their own parochial interests.

The current turn of events in the NDC where allegations of corruption, lack of accountability in governance have been leveled against government officials, leaves much to be desired and falls short of the ideals and values which form the bedrock of the party since its inception.

From the onset of the Mills administration, our founder J.J. Rawlings, and Nana Konadu, in consultation with the grassroots, have independently offered constructive criticism, and suggested solutions to restore the NDC’s reputation.

In response, the president has distanced himself from our founder J.J. Rawlings, while refusing to heed the advice of the very person who secured his 2008 general election victory.

With more and more allegations of corruption further tainting the Mills Administration, it brings into question Mills’ ability to be – what he himself terms – a “winnable” candidate for the NDC. As the issues of corruption and lack of probity and accountability within the Mills Government become self-evident, it vindicates Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings for contesting in the NDC’s presidential primaries in July 2011.

As NDC party disunity is apparent now more than ever, at the grassroots, it has become ever clearer that the Sunyani Congress was representative of a struggle between those who stand for the true values of the NDC and for its preservation as opposed to those who believe in bad governance, corruption and the ultimate destruction of the NDC.

These issues of corruption, obvious mismanagement and lack of accountability by the Mills government and some party executives are sinking the NDC ship, leaving the grassroots despondent and without the determination to campaign for their own party for the 2012 election.

We thank all our members and spokes persons for adhering to our earlier directive for restraint on the media discussions.

LONG LIVE FONKAR

LONG LIVE NANA KONADU AGYEMAN RAWLINGS

LONG LIVE THE TRUE NDC

Signed:

Coordinator- FONKAR

Emmanuel Saint Osei