What Will Akufo Addo Do With Rawlings Again?

If Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is to use the same tactics he used in the 2012 election campaign, then it is to be expected that he will once more try to cultivate former President Jerry John Rawlings and his wife, Konadu. In the last campaign, Nana marched all who mattered in the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to follow him to the residence of the Rawlingses where he paid glowing What Will Akufo �Addo Do With Him Again? Patriotic Party (NPP) to follow him to the residence of the Rawlings where he paid glowing tribute to Mr. Jerry John Rawlings. Nana claimed that he had always been inspired by Mr. Rawlings commitment to the fight against corruption and praised the former Head of State to the high heavens for his nationalism. Now, some of the key supporters of Akufo-Addo say that what he did then fitted into a political strategy meant to divide the front of the National Democratic Congress (NDC). They say that Nana did not mean a word of what he said then and that he was only trying to encourage Mr. Rawlings to continue his anti-Mills and Anti-Mahama campaign. Nana has himself failed to explain the rationale for his flirtation with the Rawlingses and what benefit he hoped to gain from those actions. Interestingly Mr. Rawlings refused to campaign for the NDC and the election of John Dramani Mahama as President, while his wife broke away to found the National Democratic Party (NDP). Both Mr. Rawlings and his wife might have hoped that their actions would cause the defeat of Mahama and the NDC and bring Nana Akufo-Addo to power. Mr. Rawlings appears to have shifted his position and now claims that the Mahama administration is far better than the Mills administration. Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings on the other hand is still busily pushing to replace the NDC with her NDP as the governing party. Nana Akufo-Addo on the other hand is ambivalent about his future relations with the Rawlingses. He would not make any public commitment for now as he watches the scene to determine which allies he needs to cultivate for his campaign to be President of Ghana. Report from the NPP; however say that many party supporters were unhappy with the conduct of Akufo-Addo in seeking to build an alliance with the Rawlingses. One party source said �Nana�s conduct painted him as a desperate opportunist who would do every and anything to grab power. It was not good for our campaign.� Nana has on several occasions claimed that his ticket to power is that he led the resistance against the Rawlings dictatorship. The contradiction is obvious. How could the same persons who claim to have led the struggle against the Rawlings dictatorship be saying that he admires the former President for his fight against corruption and nationalism. Ghanaians are waiting to see what Nana Akufo-Addo will do with the Rawlingses this time round. Will Nana embrace Rawlings again or will Rawlings abandon Mahama and the NDC for the second time? Perhaps, time will tell.