It is now confirmed that Ex-President Jerry Rawlings and his wife Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings have abandoned their long time presidential pet, Professor Evans Atta Mills.The Rawlings?s are said to have settled on Mr. Eddie Annan, a business tycoon and prominent Mills financial backer.

Eddie Annan is said to have been the main financial pillar behind Professor Mills ? the two times failed presidential bid. Also lined alongside Professor Mills is Mr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, another NDC presidential hopeful who is said to have been described by the Rawlings?s as ?too arrogant. Vanguard?s intelligent sources have revealed that professor Evans Atta Mills is presently touring some countries to solicit for funds for his 2008 presidential contest.

The two times defeated NDC presidential candidate visited China recently. Vanguard?s intelligence operatives sighted him in South Africa where he is said to be holding talks with some prominent politicians and business tycoons.Mr. Eddie Annan has dropped hints about his intention to contest the NDC?s presidential slot. Speaking on an Accra based radio station, Mr. Annan euphemistically said he was still consulting the various stakeholders of affairs of the party before going public with his intentions.

He said the current practice where people from political parties other than the ruling one are viewed as enemies is not helping the country, especially the business sector.According to the business tycoon who helped in financing Professor Mills? campaign in both the 2000 and 2004 elections, his government ?will look at Ghana like a business? because ?all the countries in the world are run like a business?.

He noted that it was about time political leaders departed from the traditional ways of running the country as a business entity, adding, ?we should run the country on sound business principles and enforce accountability because we are using the resources of Ghana to run the business. That he explained, would mean shelving political differences and working with all manner of people irrespective of their political affiliations.

Although he admitted that political parties are essential for one to win elections, he said one?s allegiance should go to the people of Ghana first.?At the moment, you have friends who cannot even pay you a visit due to the fact that if they are seen in your company they would be victimized.?Where are we heading to? he queried, adding, ?That needs to be changed alongside a whole lot of other things. He explained that when people are discriminated against purely on political grounds, especially business men, they are the least affected. The man who runs the business does not suffer, the entrepreneurs don?t suffer.

They go somewhere else to continue their business, it is the people they lay off who suffer.I am looking at a president who looks at the people first, the party second and himself third and not the other way round because we are there for the people,? he observed.