ATTA MILLS IS THE RIGHT MAN TO LEAD NDC IN 2008 ELECTION

The argument canvassed in this piece is simply that the good Prof Atta Mills is the right and only man with experience at this time to lead NDC to victory in 2008. So therefore, NDC should first elect him as Flag Bearer in 2006.Atta Mills has canvassed majority support amongst the delegates to be victorious in the December contest.

ELECTION OF FLAG BEARER EQUATES ELECTION OF LEADER OF NDC.

Four NDC Flag Bearer Contestants are in the campaign to influence over 2000 NDC delegates to vote for them come December 16, 2006 at the La Trade fair Site. It has been the erroneous charge of anti- NDC forces that all decision making process within the NDC is in the bosom of NDC Founder Ex-President JJ Rawlings. As the Founder, Ex-President Rawlings' opinion matter but is not necessarily the sole determinant of NDC decisions. At the Congress, the Electoral Commission will supervise the elections by secret ballot. The casting of votes by delegates will be according to their conscience and mandate from their constituencies. So the current contest is a positive showcase for NDC subservience to democratic principles. It is extremely healthy as this particular contest should burnish political image of the NDC. At the end of the process on December 16, 2006, NPP negative campaigning about “lack of NDC internal democracy”, whatever that means, should ring hollow and be without merit, unless for parochial selfish interests, the NDC candidates turn on one another negatively. The NDC has traditionally been slow in the past to challenge its opponents’ lies. It is good news that NDC, through the indefatigable General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketsiah, has now assumed a proactive approach. In the December NDC Congress, by the decision of delegates from 230 Constituencies, it is not only the NDC Flag Bearer who will be chosen, but also the Leader of the NDC as well, since by NDC Constitution, once chosen as the Flag Bearer, the mantle of the Leader of NDC is automatically conferred on that person. It is after this that the National Campaign to unseat NPP in 2008 would commence in all earnest.

The Candidates and political pundits have stipulated that the front runner in the NDC Flag Bearer Campaign is Professor John Evans Atta Mills. His main challengers are new to Flag Bearer Campaigns and they are: Alhaji Iddrisu Mahama, a former Defence Minister, Mr. Eddie Annan, Owner of Masai Group and Dr. Ekwow Spio Garbrah, current head of London Based CTO.

SOCRATES v. ATTA MILLS

Being the NDC front runner, Professor Atta Mills has been the subject of vile attacks from both within and without his party, especially from NPP zealots. It is tempting to conclude that what is happening to the good Professor Mills is in the same mold as known already from ancient times. Snipe ceaselessly at the Man; Attack the Man of repute by any means. Text Messaging, Print Media, Talk Radio, The Internet are modern technology that could not have been invented in the times of the Nobility of Athens in their political quest to shut Socrates down or in modern parlance, ‘get him to step aside and quit”, but their tongues and quills were used to spread unfounded rumors. In this era, the good Prof Mills is being ‘assailed’ by an opponent with unfounded ‘medical crisis’ charge in text messaging and by tongue.

In Athenian Political History as explained by Plato, we learn of the intrigues by Socrates’ opponents, the nobility to exile or banish Socrates from Athens in the 5th Century BCE so as not to seeds of heresy and not to corrupt the thinking of his followers including Plato. Socrates lived in Athens and attained the accolade of the wisest man in all of Greece. At age 70, Socrates was accosted by the Athenian state power and was ordered to desist from his public discourse, termed public disputes, and also cease his association with young aristocrats. When faced with the prospect of living out his natural life in exile away from his beloved Athens or die by drinking the deadly Hemlock poison, Socrates chose the poison as a matter of principle. The political campaigning that went into this episode is classical and in comparison, dwarfs the current political campaigning to get the good Prof Mills to ‘step aside and quit’ from the NDC race. Suffice it to say that Professor Mills has declared his intention not to quit the race; that he is as fit as a horse and has challenged his accusers to ‘come and assess his ears”. In a word the good Prof Mills has declined to drink “the Hemlock Poison”, nor go into ‘political exile’.

It is clear that the purpose of recent unprecedented negative attacks on Prof. John Atta Mills is aimed at shaping public opinion against him and chip away at his prohibitive lead in the Campaign. To this end Prof Mills’ opponents have appealed to emotion rather than hard facts. They are speaking as if they empathize with Prof Mills and are concerned about his health. But this is a non-issue and Mills has come out forcefully to challenge his critics to substantiate their “Medical Lies” about him. Mills’ opponents are in for a rude awakening since their attacks have failed in its intended purpose and have backfired against them. The Ghanaian public is of the view that these attacks on the good Prof Mills went too far and were too personal. The efforts of the anti-Mills group have thus backfired just like one other notable case in history. During the Canadian 1993 federal election the Progressive Conservative Party attacked Liberal Party leader Jean Chrétien by mocking his facial deformity. Outrage followed, and the Progressive Conservative Party was hurt badly in the polls.

THE GANG OF FOUR

As noted above, the GANG OF FOUR vying for the Flag Bearer ship of the NDC are Professor John Evans Atta Mills who will be making another valiant attempt to become President when he coasts to victory at the NDC Congress. His main challengers are new to Presidential forays and they are: Alhaji Iddrisu Mahama, a former Defence Minister, Mr. Eddie Annan, Owner of Masai Group and Dr. Ekwow Spio Garbrah, current head of London Based Commonwealth Technological Organization (CTO).

For some inexplicable reasons, some people are making a lot of noise that Dr. Ekwow Spio Garbrah is the next leading favorite to the good Professor Mills to win the NDC nomination. Many including this writer, however, do not share that lofty opinion. As a matter of fact the dark horse that will pull more votes but won’t surmount that of the good Prof Mills is Alhaji Iddrisu Mahama who has the NDC TEIN (Student supporters of NDC) firmly in his corner and also has a solid base of support from the two Upper Regions. Eddie Annan (despite his money) and Ekwow Spio Garbrah (despite his flashy campaign), are destined to fight for third and fourth place finishing when the total votes are tabulated. Eddie Annan has the misfortune of surfacing late to cobble together a spirited campaign, but he has not made any serious headway because of delegates’ unanswered question that keep hitting him as to why they had never had interaction with him from 2000 when NDC lost power till now. Ekwow Spio Garbrah’s campaign has been described above as ‘flashy’. He is on record as taking singular credit for some successful policies of the NDC government under ex-president Jerry John Rawlings. Spio claims credit for VAT. Yet the real technocrats like the unassuming Mr. Seth Tekper, now with the World Bank, who did all the heavy lifting and numbers crunching under the direction of then Vice president Prof Mills, a world renowned UN Tax Expert, are willing to abide by the Collective Code of Responsibility and assign credit to the then government of the day, not to any particular individual. Not so, with Ekwow Spio Garbrah. He claims he made VAT possible in Ghana! The least said about the history of the GET Fund, the better at this stage. It might be wrongly assumed that the purpose of this piece is to crucify!

VOICE OF REASON AND EXPERIENCE

Politics in Ghana has taken on an interesting façade. There are some who think NPP is unbeatable in 2008 and that NDC is merely wasting its time. With due respect, those who hold this view are simple inexorable zealots. They mostly belong to the NPP and are drunk with power and arrogance. Unfortunately, the chief Internet propagandist for Ekwow Spio Garbrah has said NDC cannot beat NPP with Professor Mills as the Leader! How vacuous! How inane! The fact is NPP is vulnerable and beatable precisely because of its moribund incumbent status. They have mismanaged and misruled Ghana during their terms in office and up to this point have made majority of Ghanaians regret voting them into office. It is not the NDC candidate with the loudest, shrill voice as some will have us believe, who can ‘match up to the ultimate NPP candidate’. It is the voice of reason and experience imbued in the good Prof Mills that will do the trick for the NDC. Why some people believe the good Prof Mills cannot speak as eloquently as or more eloquently than Ekwow Spio Garbrah beats the imagination! These people have not had the chance to hear or know the good Prof Mills! Mills has been an articulate Law Professor! Were the delegates not spell-bound when they heard the good Professor Mills stand toe to toe with Dr Kwesi Botchwey at the Legon Cafeteria for the immediate past NDC Flag bearer ship Contest, speaking ex-tempore, without prepared notes?

2008 NOT YEAR TO GAMBLE (NO CHA –CHA POLITICS FOR NDC)

Politics in Ghana is at a momentous stage in which the true strength of the Democratic experiment ushered in by the 4th Republic in 1992 will be carefully calibrated by the dos and don’ts of the Electoral Commission in light of the disgraceful 2004 Elections. It is what the good Professor Mills had endured at the hands of the Electoral Commission in 2004 that gives most NDC followers the invaluable insight that anybody who was not in his shoes would never get it right, to the serious disadvantage of NDC in 2008. It is easy for arm-chair critics to speak about Monitoring, Counting of all of the Votes, Release of the Results not by NPP Party Officials but by EC Officials. However, it would take a seasoned Candidate, whose fortune was adversely affected by all of the above to gird up his loins and pay particular attention, not leaving anything in the hands of dubious officials. Ghana’s Politics is not a new phenomenon. So the good Professor Mills knows he will dot all “i’s” and cross all “t’s” but not reinvent the political wheel as some neophyte Candidates entering a Presidential Race for the first time is wont to do.. This is origin of the fear of NPP for the cleanest politician in Ghana, the honest and good Professor Mills! Everything about the man Mills, has been scrutinized. He is as clean as clean, pure water! Who knows what dark secrets hover in the closet of the other NDC Candidates which NPP is chomping at the bits to reveal to their advantage at a time when it would be too late for NDC to recover? 2008 is not a year to gamble with.NDC’s fortune. NDC will go with the tried and tested candidate, who is none other than the good Professor Atta Mills!

MILLS AND NDC OFFICIALS ON THE SAME MESSAGE

The message of the good Prof Mills in 2004 was admittedly muted somewhat by the fact that the immediate past Chairman of NDC was not very convincing in his support of his then candidate Mills. That ‘problem’ appears to have been solved with the coming into office of Dr Kwabena Adjei, as the new Chairman of the NDC. The thorny matter of “Staying on the same Message” by both NDC Officials and the good Prof Mills as Leader of NDC when elected Flag Bearer appears solved, unless the unexpected happens.

The good Professor Mills intuits and understands the importance of the Message in the political Campaign which is defined as “a concise statement saying why voters should pick a candidate”. In his trips around the Country, the good Professor Mills has articulated that Ghana now “is a society facing a rapid upswing in violent crimes, such as Armed Robbery. Cocaine dealers have found safe haven under NPP and an ever depressing education system in which teachers are not appropriately remunerated and school materials are in perpetual short supply as a result of moribund policies of NPP”. Prof Mills says “Ghana needs a leader who will keep our streets safe, restore academic performance and excellence to our schools and punish illicit cocaine drug dealers”. The good Professor John Atta Mills is that Man who will offer such excellent leadership. Both the good Professor Mills and NDC Officials will articulate this message in unison and never at cross purposes as was the case in the past.

In the forthcoming National Campaign, Prof Mills underscores the importance of his message and therefore has in place a seasoned political consultant adept at organizing opinion polling and focus grouping in order to constantly fine tune and put out what message is needed to reach the majority on Election Day. 2008 is indeed a brand new contest for the good Professor Mills. Eyes are red, indeed!

THE IMPORTANT ROLE OF NDC FOOT SOLDIERS

One of the knocks on Prof Mills is that he is not capable of raising money to fund his campaign and that he can never match the NPP in the monies they have accumulated. Nothing can be farther from the truth! NPP may have all the monies in the world in individual pockets, but the good Prof Mills enjoys tremendous goodwill and has enough to fund his campaign. He has shown his financial resiliency by his ability to ‘criss-cross’ the 230 Constituencies in Ghana!

Besides the usual fundraising techniques which include meeting with donors, large or small and courting interest groups who would spend on the race as it is significant to their interests, the good Professor Mills is well poised to deploy NDC foot soldiers who represent the human capital of the NDC, loyal to the cause, the true believers, to work as volunteers to canvass door-to-door, from one hamlet to the other, from one village to the next! Indeed 2008 is a brand new contest!

HOW MILLS VICTORY 2006 AND 2008 IS BEING FASHIONED

Having regard to the fact that 2008 is a brand new contest and considering that not a single vote has been cast yet, the good Professor Mills is amused by opponents who claim “Mills will never win an election in Ghana”. The astute Prof Mills is taking one step at a time, leaving no political stone unturned.

The good Professor Mills’ Campaign Spokesman, Hon Mahama Ayariga speaks of THE MOBILIZATION OF “some inspired individuals”, and a heavily-resourced “group of professionals” to communicate the message of the campaign, recruit volunteers, and raise money. Whether by State media or paid media consisting of advertisements on TV, the radio, in newspapers, on billboards and, the Internet, Political Rallies, the good Professor Mills’ campaign is focused AND WILL DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO ASSURE VICTORY.

The good Prof Mills is determined is in sync with his Political Consultant and is communicating directly with members of the public. He has professional marketing .firm and volunteers doing the hustling without fanfare. Prof Mills is speaking face-to-face with the public at events, in the street, at the market, and on the doorstep; He is energized by the campaign doing cold-calling by himself and his volunteers to members of the public over the phone. Mills is using the “Micro targeting” technique that helps identify and target small demographic elements of voters. Vigorous whistle-stop tour is on the political menu which will feature a series of brief appearances in several small towns and organizing political house parties to further disseminate the message of the campaign right after the nomination. Mills will incorporate “Listening” tours at that stage of the campaign.

Professor Mills recognizes that to ensure victory the campaign's goal, message, target audience as stated above must be followed to the letter in order to fashion out a blueprint for victory.

Everyone is encouraged to join the good Professor Mills’ Campaign by donating money, doing volunteer work, writing letters to the media, voting in a particular way, and generally assisting the cause. There are no special conditions attached to joining, except willingness to see the good Professor Mills elected as President to re-direct the course of Ghana to a path of meaningful prosperity for every citizen, not just the top echelon as has been practiced by the NPP; as well as recovery from the moral weakness of the nation that the NPP has fostered on Ghana by despicable examples of it’s top men.

The good Prof Mills will be victorious in both December months of 2006 and 2008!