Spio "Pisses" In Again And Says "I'll Never Keep Quiet"

The CEO of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) in the United Kingdom, and a leading member of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, claims though his relationship with President Mills is cordial, some close aides of the President, are feeding him with half-truths, all in bid to denigrate him (Spio). Addressing a litany of issues at a press conference held at the Teacher�s Hall, in Accra, today, where he responded to some �invective� comments made against him by another leading NDC member, Ato Ahwoi, and the Director of Communications at the Presidency, Koku Anyidoho, the CTO Chief Executive pointed out that the actions of some of these faceless people perhaps accounts for how the President perceives him. �Quite clearly, having been a contestant in the 2006 Elections, there will be those around him (Prez Mills), who will start telling him various kinds of stories, trying to poison his mind, trying to make him feel one way or the other about me. And whether that is having an effect or not, you as Ghanaian citizens can judge�I�ve not shown any unwillingness to collaborate with the gov�t in any way� and therefore it depends on what they are telling him which may be affecting how he (Prez Mills), perceives me, but I have no problems with President Mills,� he said. Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, who lost the NDC presidential race to then Prof John Evans Atta Mills, threw the first stone, a couple of months ago, in a newspaper article on the commemoration of the centenary celebrations of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana�s first president. His scathing article titled: �Honouring Nkrumah�s Legacy: A challenge for the NDC,� about certain developments in the NDC, which according to him are not favourable to the fortunes of the party, opened the floodgates of attacks and responses from pro-Mills elements. According to the Communications expert, who now heads the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) in the United Kingdom, President Mills has not made the right choice of cabinet ministers, having chosen persons from the reserve team and thus leaving the critical players on the bench. Perhaps, this was an aspect which prompted the jumping into the fray by Koku Anyidoho and Ato Ahwoi. According to Ato Ahwoi in his robust response, Spio is longing for a cabinet appointment in a Mills Government and would not get it. But flanked by hundreds of party supporters at the press conference, Dr. Spio-Garbrah stridently denied ever lobbying for a cabinet position from president Mills. �I have never requested the President to give me a cabinet position...In fact the President has told me why he has never given me a cabinet appointment,� he stated, though he refused to disclosed the reasons. The former Ghana�s Ambassador to the United States described as an interesting theory, but factually incorrect, the notion that he is perhaps inciting the party�s foot-soldiers against the government, in his ambition to be President in some time to come, by claiming that some �critical players� had been sidelined. �I�m not inciting anybody�I don�t live in this country. How do I incite people from London? These are people who are living here in Ghana by themselves, who fought for the NDC, went to TAIN (constituency), expected certain outcomes out of their efforts and are not seeing it, and when they are talking they say somebody is inciting them�they are all NDC members,�they will like to be in power for as long as possible, but if things are not being done in the right way, then some people say don�t talk, just keep quiet and suffer in silence? Many of them are saying no, they�re not going to suffer in silence, their voice must be heard and I also believe that my own voice must also be heard..this is how Goosie Tanoh left the NDC, this is how Obed Asamoah left the NDC, this is how Kwesi Botchwey has become marginalized and they say Spio-Garbrah can also go, and when we go and we lose and election, they don�t understand,� he added. Dr. Spio-Garbrah, who is also a communications expert, denied charges that he was responsible for circulation of text messages on the health status of Professor Mills in the run-up to the NDC�s presidential primaries in 2006 ��text messaging is a very private communication channel, so unless those I sent the text messages want themselves to come out and disclose what has been put in the text messages, I don�t think it�s fair, for me, alone without them to embark on a unilateral discussion about any text messages I�ve sent to anybody, unless I want to lose my credibility�the issue of President Mills� health was already in the Graphic. Is it possible that Prof. Mills wil go to South Africa for three months for treatment and (ex) President Rawlings will not know, that I will be telling him for the first time?, imean just think about it�so the attempt again to make me the source, the cause of any commentary on President Mills health, I reject outright and totally,� he stated. Dr. Spio-Garbrah, who confirmed his desire to vie for the NDC�s Vice Chairmanship in December, said he is committed to ensuring that there is free expression of views and opinions in the party and he will not allow �anybody to intimidate anybody in the NDC�.