Hannah Tetteh@Wikileaks: NDC Chair Lacks Maturity

In yet another damning release of leaked US diplomatic cables by the international whistle blowing website Wikileaks, Hannah Tetteh, Minister of Trade (then Head of Communications during the transition period) is reported to have explained to a US Embassy official named only as Poloff why the Mills� led National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration opted for Madam Joyce Bamford Addo as Speaker of Parliament. In a disclosure that is sure to unsettle and perhaps disconcert some members of the ruling party, Whistle blower website, Wikileaks, claims the Head of Communications during the transition period described the party�s National chairman, Dr. Kwabena Adjei as someone who lacks maturity. �The choice of Joyce Bamford Addo as speaker of Parliament was pure genius on many levels�First of all, she is a woman, and the NDC has a long way to go on gender balance in high office. Secondly, and most importantly, it was clear that the NPP could find no grounds to object to her. Lastly, she was seen as someone who would take orders and be malleable to party discipline. She said that for important votes, the party would remove Addo and put the First Deputy Speaker Edward Adjaho into her place as a stronger enforcer,� the cables said. According to Wikileaks� leaked cables, Hannah Tetteh lamented the poor quality of the information and material the transition team has been receiving from the outgoing New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration. "From the president's office down through most of the ministries, she said, the turnover papers have been minimal, in some cases, just a few bulleted items to sum up a ministry's entire portfolio. Whether caused by laziness, indiscipline, or a purposeful attempt to cover up transgressions, she said, it is slowing down the transition process and forcing the new government to dig deeper into records to determine the status of affairs in most government agencies. As examples, she pointed to government vehicles and residences that had not been accounted for, as well as a last-minute wave of military promotions and Foreign Service inductions that had raised eyebrows even among NPP supporters. Although President Mills had promised that the party would not pursue partisan retribution, Tetteh made it clear that obvious episodes of malfeasance would have to be referred to the courts.� The leaked cable further states that Hannah Tetteh had an inkling that the NDC�s National Chair would be replaced at the party�s post-election congress to elect party leaders, adding that it was probably because Dr Kwabena Adjei "...lacks maturity -- and I don't mean because of his age."