Dr. Offei Agyeman, a one-time National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate for Ayawaso Central constituency, who came under fire for his position on the ruling party's politics, has roared again, stating that he is not mad for drinking urine

He threw a challenge to his party colleagues over the efficacy of the body's waste fluid and posited that Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, Eddie Annan, a business mogul and Alhaji Iddrisu Mahama, who all contested with President Atta Mills for the NDC presidential slot in 2006, must be part of the Mills cabinet.

Dr. Offei Agyeman told DAILY GIUDE in a follow-up interview that the absence of these gentlemen from the Mills cabinet had reduced the NDC flavor in the government.

The NDC, he said, needed quality leadership towards the 2012 elections.

His earlier position on Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings as a better option for the NDC in 2012 came under intense fire from the pro-Mills camp.

Some of the critics described him as suffering from a mental deficiency as a result of the urine he drinks, with some calling him 'Shamolo', meaning he who urinates.

Commenting about accusations that he allowed the recount of the votes at Ayawaso Central constituency, where he lost to Sheikh IC Quaye, he said, 'Such persons who think this led to the defeat of the NDC in the constituency are only exhibiting their ignorance about the electoral process.'

'They made unguarded remarks about me, likening me to a KVIP keeper. I do not mind the insults but would only solidarise with the KVIP keepers who voted for the NDC to come to power in 2008,' he stated.

He said the attack on his person over his belief in urine therapy was borne out of ignorance, daring his critics to face him in a debate on the subject.

He said during such a debate, he would espouse the historical, religious, medical, scientific, spiritual and economic benefits of urine.

Urine, he said, was composed of 95 percent water, two and a half percent urea and the rest minerals.

'I have kidney patients from Holland. Only urine can heal the kidney because urine comes from this organ. Such a treatment has no side effects. Urine purifies the blood and it is a source of iron and zinc.'

The naturopath bemoaned the lack of education about urine therapy and charged the Ministry of Health to undertake such a project.

The man who narrowly lost to Sheikh I.C. Quaye in the 2008 parliamentary polls threw his weight behind Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, regarding her as the best match for the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) Presidential Candidate in the 2012 elections, a statement which has attracted criticisms from the Mills boys who described him as a mad man.

Dr. Offei Agyemang, a naturopath widely known for his urine therapy passion, said given the fact that President John Evans Atta Mills lost to the NPP candidate during the first round of the 2008 polls, there was the need to field a candidate who could really match Nana Akufo-Addo.

There were a lot of challenges facing the NDC, he told DAILY GUID E in an earlier interview, and these must be addressed so the party could retain power in 2012.

'There is something wrong with our party. We need an effective leader to retain power in 2012.'

He frowned upon the recent demolitions in Accra and questioned the rationale behind the exercise, adding that it was doubtful whether the much touted $10billion housing project by STX Korea would meet the needs of the ordinary Ghanaian.

He asked: 'What are the priorities of this government?' adding, 'The housing project should be for those unsheltered, not those already in shelters. Can such persons afford the houses being mentioned by government?'

The gentleman wondered why a place like Sodom and Gomorrah would be penciled for demolition when there were lessons to be learnt from the Kibera slum in Kenya, Africa's largest slum.

People are suffering in this country, he noted and said it was for the government to prioritize its programmes and consider public transportation as critical because commuters cursed the authorities each time they commuted from their homes to work.

'There is a man who walks from Kasoa to Accra on a daily basis for only GH¢2.50 a day as his wage. The priority of the Mills government should be public transportation,' he noted.

Sounding passionate, he said he would not run for the constituency election again, given the financial loss he suffered in his bid to win the position. 'I lost three houses and three plots of land in my bid to win the seat, yet the government did not deem me fit for appointment into any board in the country,' he said.

If the then candidate Mills had visited the constituency as did Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, the results would have been different from what turned up, he claimed.

He took exception to Deputy Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa's alleged campaign for Zita Okaikoi as an appropriate candidate for the Dome/Kwabenya constituency and the subsequent denigration of certain people whom Ablakwa said came later with money and 'bobobor' to entice the constituents.

Such a remark, Dr Offei Agyemang noted, could only create rancor in the rank of the party and disunity in the constituency. The only way of choosing an appropriate presidential candidate for the NDC was through a primary election, he stated, warning that 'we should support whoever emerges victorious irrespective of the person's political affiliation.'

In spite of his misgivings about certain developments in the party, he stated that he was active in the political grouping's affairs.

Dr. Ofei Agyeman is a month away from his 63rd birthday and was born in a village near Mampong Ashanti called Kwiremfaso where his mother hailed from. His father, an indigene of Akropong, was a teacher in Ashanti Mampong. He had his 6-year training in naturopathy in Highbury, England, having had his secondary school education at the Presbyterian Secondary School in Odumase, Krobo.

Naturopathy is the promotion of health and natural healing by a system of diet, exercise, manipulation, care, and hydrotherapy. Urine therapy falls under naturopathy and with a small following in Ghana, it sounds absurd to drink one's own urine. Perhaps, as Dr. Ofei Agyeman is suggesting, the Ministry of Health would have to embark on a programme of sensitizing Ghanaians about the importance of urine therapy. But whether this would attract more converts is a million-dollar question, especially in the more conservative segment of the society..