In the face or what some political pundits describe as “dog bite dog” National Democratic Congress (NDC) ahead of its presidential primary, Friends of Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings (FONKAR) – a political pressure group championing the purported presidential ambition of the former First Lady, has moved its campaign to higher pedestal.

This fresh move by the group, The Ghanaian Observer (GO) was told, is another clear indication that Mrs. Rawlings is contesting incumbent President John Evans Atta Mills when the Party finally opens nomination for its presidential primary to elect a candidate for the 2012 elections. Employing high technology to propel her presidential ambition, FONKAR has officially started developing a comprehensive website for Mrs.

Rawlings, which insiders believe would widely market and expose her to the local and international communities ahead of the 2012 general elections. The website – www.fonkar-org, which is currently active, has a bold caption “Friends of Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings (FONKAR)” with magnificent pictures of Mrs. Rawlings, costumed in yellowish Africa Kaba and a scarf calmly holding her waist with an attractive smile. Besides her pictures, the website – www.Fonkar.org – has another caption “Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, The Presidential Candidate for 2012”, which presupposes that the former first lady has already won the party’s presidential primaries.

The website, which features the biography and 14 exclusive pictures of Mrs. Rawlings, has this quotation attributed to her, “My desire is to see the emancipation of women at every level of development to enable them to contribute and benefit from the socio-economic and political progress of the country. Their participation will help o achieve the aims of the United Nations Declaration for Women; Equality, Development and Peace. Women’s vital role of promoting peace in the family, the country and the world at large must be acknowledged and to do this, they must be empowered politically to equip them adequately for the challenges of critically identifying and assessing situation for the betterment of the society.”

In June this year, the presidential ambition of Mrs. Rawlings was publicly displayed in Tamale at a rally to climax this year’s June 4 uprising celebration. Members of the Ashanti Regional branch of the June 4 Movement, wearing freshly printed T-Shirts and other paraphernalia, boldly displayed a banner with the inscription “Movement for Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings 2012 President; Ashanti Region”. They cheered Mrs. Rawlings on her arrival at the Tamale Jubilee Park with the former first Lady, who was dressed in an all-white attire, waving back and smiling to the group, attracting louder cheers from the crowd that had converged on the grounds to be addressed by the party’s founder in commemoration of the 31st anniversary celebration of the June 4 uprising.

Recently, the Functional Executive Committee of the NDC issued a press statement signed by its National Chairman, Dr. Kwabena Adjei, stating that the party does not know anyone by the name Dela Coffie, who is the communications Director of FONKAR. The statement also said the Party would fish out and identify the likes of Dela Coffie and other executives of FONKAR and deal with them in accordance with the relevant provisions of the party’s constitution. Following this, FONKAR also issued a strong worded press statement wondering what Dr. Kwabena Adjei means by “the party shall fish out the likes of Dela Coffie and deal with them in accordance with the relevant provisions of the party’s constitution”, questionng “how do you intend to fish out Dela Coffie? Is Dela Coffie hiding?

It continued that FONKAR wanted to state categorically that Dela Coffie is a card-bearing member of the NDC and a known youth activist who has never hidden his true identity. The group also said “serious attempt have been made on the life of our Communication Director and we want to make it clear that if anything happens to Dela Coffie, FONKAR would hold Dr. Kwabena Adjei responsible. We also wish to caution the leadership of the NDC to be wary of these intrigues and their dire consequences for the Party.