Some Drunkards Are On The �Yutong Bus� Distracting The Driver; We�ll Force Them Off � Baba Jamal

The racket generated by the infamous �Yutong Bus� tale spun by NDC Member of Parliament for Lower Manya Krobo, Hon Michael Teye Nyaunu, will certainly not die out soon as members from two out of the three camps vying for the coveted flagbearer position of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), set to rub shoulders at the party�s July Congress in Sunyani, keep making a go at each other through further casting of insinuations and innuendos. At the launch of Nana Konadu�s presidential campaign on Wednesday May 4, a staunch supporter of the Former First Lady, Hon Teye Nyaunu, likened President Mills� government to an inexperienced Yutong bus driver on the verge of an impending major catastrophic road disaster with some passengers on the bus scared of telling the driver to the face that his driving is so bad that he is likely to veer off the road. His remarks led to a political uproar, thus it was not surprising when every political debate for a period of time, centered on the Yutong bus analogy. At the formal launch of President Mills� Campaign, Vice President John Mahama in an apparent response to Michael Teye Nyaunu�s sleepy Yutong bus driver needing change, shot back saying �we have given one bus driver coffee in the past to stay awake.� As if that was not enough, a Deputy Minister of Information, Baba Jamal further stoke the embers of the inept �Yutong Bus driver� saga when he asserted that, there is nothing whatsoever wrong with the Yutong bus (NDC party) or the driver (President Mills); but rather, �there are drunkards on the bus who needed to be forced off since they were distracting the driver.� According to him, when a highly intoxicated person sits in your car, such a person will certainly be rowdy and might even cause the driver to lose focus, so the best thing to do is to �drop him off at the nearest check-point and move on.� �People are saying the driver of the Yutong bus is inept and must be changed, but I can say with authority that it is not the driver who is bad. There are some drunks on the bus disturbing the peace of everyone including the driver, so when the bus gets to a police barrier, we have to force them off the bus...this driver is slow but sure, so it�s a matter of course that he will take his time in leading us to our destination,� he said. Speaking on Peace FM�s flagship programme �Kokrokoo�, on the decision by Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings and Dr Ekwow Spio Garbrah to challenge President Mills for the NDC�s flagbearer slot, the deputy Information Minister opined that though it is their democratic right to contest the party�s presidential primary, it was a bad decision to make. �Personally, I think it�s morally wrong for Nana Konadu and Spio Garbrah to contest (against President Mills). I think for the sake of the NDC they should have backed down�this is not the time for divisions�but they have their democratic rights�and certainly not I can denied them their inalienable rights. However, it must be pointed out that insults and casting of insinuations are not necessary and if they (Konadu�s camp) lie about an issue, we will strive to set the records straight. In this campaign, we must exercise maximum decorum,� he stated.