General News of Tuesday, 13 October 2009

Source: GNA

Spio Hits Town

Accra, Oct. 13, GNA - Dr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, a Contestant for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Presidential Slot for Election 2008, on Tuesday made an appearance at the Party's Headquarters in Accra in connection with his recent media tirade.

Dr Spio-Garbrah, who is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the Commonwealth Telecommunication Organization and is based in London, said he returned to Ghana to help to deal with matters arising from a critique he made about the performance of the current NDC Government.

The September 18 and September 23 2009 editions of the "Daily Graphic" newspaper published his critique, which elicited unsavoury responses from Mr Ato Ahwoi, a Leading Member of the Party and Mr Koku Anyidoho, Communications Director at the Presidency.

Dr Spio-Garbrah said: "I am at the NDC Headquarters today in response to a news item I read on the Internet that the Party Chairman would like to meet me and other people, who have been attacking my personality in recent days.

"I have travelled to Ghana from London and I am at the NDC Party Office today out of respect for the Chairman of the Party, who I understand issued the statement, although I have received no phone calls; e-mails; text messages; faxes or letters from the Party Headquarters on this matter," he said.

In a prepared statement distributed to the media by his Spokesperson, Mr Kweku Tawia Ampah, Dr Spio-Garbrah said he did not know what process the Party intended to use to address the issue.

He said he would be in Ghana for at least two weeks to enable the Party and other relevant Government officials to have the necessary time to deal with the issues.

He said because of the respect he had for the Office of the Party's Chairman, the Founder of the Party and the President of the Republic, he would not make any public statement until the Council of Elders of the NDC dealt with the issues.

Dr Spio-Garbrah's articles in the media eulogised Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Founder of the Republic of Ghana, on the occasion of his 100th birthday and examined lessons the current Government could draw from his achievements.

However, the examples he used to illustrate some of the main points in the articles did not go down well with some members of the Party leading to exchange of words in media, a situation the Party hierarchy considered unhealthy for its development. Meanwhile, hundreds of Party supporters clad in its paraphernalia gathered at the Headquarters to catch a glimpse of Dr Spio-Garbrah.