Politics of Thursday, 27 August 2015

Source: Daily Guide

Confirmed: JJ’s girl joins NDC race

Dr. Ezenator Agyeman-Rawlings Dr. Ezenator Agyeman-Rawlings

There are strong indications that daughter of former President Jerry John Rawlings, Dr. Ezenator Agyeman-Rawlings, will contest the parliamentary primary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Korley Klottey constituency.

Ezenator, who made her intention known in an interview on GTV yesterday, said she chose to vie for the NDC ticket because she believed there was still a chance to help improve the situation of the party.

Ahead of her declaration, she had been carrying out community service in the area.

Asked why she chose the NDC over her mother Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings’ National Democratic Party (NDP), she stated that her parents brought them up in a way that allowed anyone in the family to have different political affiliation, “and the purpose for which one embarks on a path with one group or another could simply be because one has noticed that there is a problem and would want to help fix it.”

She admitted that things were not going too well in the NDC but there was still a chance to make amends.

“A lot of people see the NDC differently but maybe there is still a chance to help improve things. I think sometimes it is easy to give up on something when it has gotten that bad but every now and then you see a spark and you think maybe there is a chance to make amends, to repair a broken engine,” she said.

She added that she would be embarking on the campaign trail with the people’s interest at heart and present what she has to offer them.

“My only prayer is regardless of whoever they choose and whoever wins that seat, the community comes first and that is all that matters. The people’s interest needs to be put ahead of the individual interest,” Ezenator said.

She was optimistic that her father would support her in her political ambition.

“I would not be expecting him to mount the campaign trail with me. It won’t be bad though but I think that it is important that if I’m going to go ahead with this, I can actually reach out to people and they can actually see me and what I have to offer them. I also think it is all well and good to ride on the shoulders of the great but it is also important to do some of the leg work yourself,” she said.

Ezenator said she did not expect Nana Konadu to return to the NDC; but was positive about an alliance between the NDP and any political party apart from the NDC.

“With regard to my mother’s refusal to come back to the NDC, I think even from the outside looking in, the extent to which the abuse went was pretty far. I cannot speak for her on that but what I will say is that like every other person in Ghana, she reserves the right to have political affiliations with whom she pleases.

“I’m not quite sure what it would take, if at all, to convince her to come back to the NDC. However I don’t know what the future holds. There is always an option for an alliance between parties. It has been done before and it can always happen,” she said.

As it stands, the NDC founder’s daughter would go unopposed, since an aspiring parliamentary candidate for the ruling party as the incumbent, Nii Armah Ashietey, was not seeking re-election. There might be other candidates however lurking in the shadows as the party opens nominations today.