MR. EMMANUEL Victor Smith, Special Aide of Ex-President Jerry John Rawlings, has described the recent attack on the driver of Mr. Rawlings as a ?litmus test? of a plot to assassinate Mr. Rawlings.

According to him, after various failed attempts to destroy and drag the name and the image of the former President into the mud, through the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC), the government had now adopted new tactics.

Speaking to The Chronicle in Accra on Monday this week, Smith said he had learnt from intelligence sources of the ex-President?s office that the government had embarked on the plot to eliminate Mr. Rawlings before the December elections.

?Our report is that a meeting was held to review an earlier plan to cut down or destroy Mr. Rawlings. After using the National Reconciliation Commission and the general bad mouthing of certain media houses for character assassination, it has been suggested that physical elimination of Mr. Rawlings by physical force, should be adopted,? said Smith.

He noted that the attack on the driver was a clear manifestation of what the government intended to do. ?What actually was the motive? I think that it was used as an initial test to see how easy or difficult it could be to carry out the physical attack on the Ex-President to eliminate him.?

The special aide said it was strange how armed-robbers could know that the NDC had employed consultants who had returned from the Upper West, managed to attack the driver and collected all their documents from the car after firing a warning shot.

?We have said time and again that the NPP government is desperately monitoring our communication and our phone calls. So for that matter, it is possible that our phone communication may have been tapped.?

Fuming, Smith accused the national security apparatus of ?not doing well,? stressing that the national security was not meant to protect only the NPP but all citizens.

He reiterated that the attack was politically motivated and warned that those who had such intentions were a threat to democracy and freedom of speech.

?I hope that the Western embassies and high commissions are watching what is going on.?

It would be recalled that last Thursday, armed robbers attacked the Ex-President?s driver, who was driving a Land Cruiser.

According to Mr. Smith, the driver had taken three Nigerian guests to Osu to visit Prof. John Atta Mills, the Presidential Candidate of the NDC after they had returned from a trip to the Upper West region.

He said no sooner had the guests gone into their lodging rooms than the armed robbers emerged and subjected the driver to serious beatings and took the car keys from him.

Smith quoted the driver as saying that the gang warned that this was just the beginning and that the next time Nigerians were brought to this country to meddle in its affairs, they would teach him a lesson.

Mr. Smith contended that the manner of the attack proved that the National Security was involved.

He said the case had been reported to the Cantoment Police.

Meanwhile Mr. Kofi Boakye, Greater Accra Regional Police Commander, has denied that the incident was politically motivated.

He told Radio Gold FM station that it was a case of assault, and that there had been a series of armed robbery in the area in recent time.

When this reporter called the National Security to react to the charge, he was told its top officials were at a meeting.

However, Mr. Kwabena Agyepong, the Presidential spokesman, when contacted, dismissed Victor Smith?s assertions as the figment of his imagination.

He told the paper the NPP government would do no such thing, as it was more concerned with important matters that will ensure good governance and move the nation forward.