The Fante Caucus are at it again. Whilst the National Democratic Congress has been living a lie over the health condition of President JEA Mills, it is emerging that it is also taking strategic steps to find a successor for the ailing President.
But DAYBREAK can reveal that it certainly will not be Mills’ number two man, the suave and savvy John Mahama. And it will not be Mrs. Konadu Rawlings either; the slot - and the dark horse for now in the equation is former NDC Minister of Finance, Dr. Kwesi Botchwey.
That is the verdict of the great Fante schemers in the NDC who sold Mills for the post Rawlings NDC vacuum, lying to JJ Rawlings that he was Ga – because Rawlings had preferred a Ga for his successor.
When the truth eventually emerged that he could not say ‘Onye…’ in Ga, it was too late to change him for another guy. Rawlings, insiders say had more trust in the Fante Caucus than his own Ewe brothers from the Volta Region, who he had always accused of doing too little to develop the Region in spite of the huge votes the Region was releasing to the party.
Now firmly in the driving seat following the stunning ability of the Caucus to crack the whip in the NDC and hold on even in the face of overwhelming odds regarding the then Mills ticket, the Fante Caucus is more than convinced that they can fight any opposition to the emerging Botchwey ticket. After all, they claim, they single handedly did all the scheming to win back the seat from the over confident New Patriotic Party. Incidentally, insiders say the Vice President is too gullible – like his ‘brother’ Hilla Limann – to notice the plot.
The Kwesi Botchwey ticket is enhanced also by the fact that the party still can latch onto the same propaganda that won them the seat in the Central Region – ‘it is time for someone from the Central Region to be President since all the tribes have had their bite.’ If therefore (God forbid) that the Umaru Yar'Adua happened to JEA Mills, the NDC can fall on the Region to deliver again to spur them on to another sweet victory.
Again, the Kwesi B ticket has the potential to work, according to insiders, because there is a need to find within the Caucus and the current leadership of the NDC a credible candidate that JJ Rawlings and wife cannot fight or undermine.
According to our sources, JJ Rawlings himself, during the Mills health debacle, felt Kwesi B could be brought on board in spite of the antagonism between him JJ Rawlings and Botchwey over the Swedru Declaration that brought Mills from academia to glory on the wings of Rawlings’s popularity, charisma and achievements.
Already, Kwesi Botchwey is firmly ensconced on the corridors of power, making modest contributions to the NDC party and Government in a position as a Board Member in one sensitive State institution.
Kwesi B is a pal of Dr. Obed Asamoah, so chances that the leadership of the Democratic Freedom Party under Obed Asamoah, may do their rebellious thing is scanty. Though the DFP is yet to be officially incorporated back into the NDC, the ruling party as at now – particularly the Fante Caucus – have little reason to fear Obed as they did in the period before and after the Swedru Declaration. With Kwesi B at the centre, Obed is no longer an enemy.
Kwesi B, unlike Mills, speaks almost all the major dialects in Ghana; he is familiar with the IMF and Breton Woods institutions; has a thorough working knowledge of the African or Ghana economy for that matter, and not a political brawler – an asset he can bring on board to win floating voters to the NDC and help bring some level of regard into a party accused of needing decent people who can be relied on to speak to decent minds in politics and diplomacy.