Does Egya Atta Believe In Asomdwoe?

One of the accolades the NDC spin doctors have showered and keep on amplifying in Egya Atta�s name is what Dr. Spio Garbrah claims he coined for the Atta-Mills campaign in the year 2000, �asomdwoehene�, a man of unequalled peace. The NDC has since that time touted Prof. Atta-Mills as a man of peace. The inference somehow is that there are others who are violent and when given the chance to rule, will plunge the nation into chaos. At the time when that accolade was hanged around the neck of Egya Atta, his major challenger in the electoral contest was Mr. J.A. Kufuor. Those who formulated that accolade and worked it into the minds of Ghanaians had not been given the slightest proof that Mr. Kufuor was a violent person. No, they used that to psychologically influence Ghanaians. The NDC did not have any message for the electorate, following their abysmal performance in their long period of reign. Knowing very well that Ghanaians, like all decent-minded people the world over, would rather have a peaceful environment even in the midst of poverty, the NDC created a very false impression that their major opponent, the NPP, was virtually going to put the country to war and destroy every good thing this nation had built over time. Unfortunately for them, the good people of this country did not buy that falsehood and voted them out. True to their predictions, Mr. Kufuor proved to Ghanaians and the world that he was synonymous with peace. Even when the most repugnant verbal insults had been hurled at him, he laughed them to scorn. In times of very tense and very challenging moments, he calmed nerves, and in his usual cool and collected self, addressed them peacefully for the sake of this country. This is the man who after having been �humiliated� by his brother in-law in a race for the flagbearership position of his party (remember the old cassava not fit for the next market palaver by J.H. Mensah), still made him a senior minister in his eight-year government and worked with his advice. Almost all those who contested Kufuor for the NPP�s flagbearership in 1998 became ministers in his government, save John Kodua. This is a man who brought peace into la Cote d�Ivoire at a time when the situation was most volatile, calmed down political tension in Togo and negotiated for peace in Kenya, which nearly fell into a fratricidal war. Since he left political office, he has never done anything to undermine the administration of the present government led by Prof. Atta-Mills. He has been more concerned in honouring international obligations than leading demonstrations against the incumbent President and calling him Johnson Burger. Now let us look at Atta-Mills� record, which makes him asomdwoehene. The NDC�s first internal bickering began on the shoulders of Atta-Mills. This began in 1999 at Swedru in the Central region, when then President Rawlings introduced him as the heir apparent in whom he trusted. Many very faithful and committed members of the party who laid down their lives and time for the party, right from the revolutionary days of the PNDC, became aggrieved and parted ways with the NDC because of Egya Atta. Out of anger and frustration, a new party was born out of the NDC, the National Reform Party, with many of the young brains of the NDC joining the new party. Then came the time for Egya Atta to nominate a running mate for the 2000 elections. One of the senior most and longest serving Minister for Foreign Affairs in this country, who also happened to be Egya Atta�s lecturer at the Law faculty, University of Ghana, Dr. Obed Asamoah, was very much interested in that position. Egya Atta and the party did not consider him for that position and went for Mr. Martin Amidu. The division widened. Egya Atta the asomdwoehene did not do anything to bring those aggrieved members of his party back into his fold; he allowed them to go and ignored all of them to deal with their bitterness. They went to an election and they lost. During the first congress of the NDC after the 2000 elections, to elect new party officers, those who were not in the camp of the Rawlingses, and who were also working for the re-election of Atta-Mills for the 2004 elections, were subjected to threats and intimidations at the Ghana Trade Fair site, where the event took place. Obed Asamoah, who contested for the position of national chairman and won eventually, was subjected to a very awful humiliation, all for the benefit of Egya Atta. Then came their congress at Legon to elect their flag-bearer for the 2004 elections, with Dr. Kwesi Botchwey being the only person contesting Prof Atta-Mills. With the support of J.J. Rawlings, Kwesi Botchwey and all those who supported him were hounded as if they were strangers in the party. Dr Obed Asamoah, the chairman of the party then, was virtually not allowed to deliver his address at Legon. Even NDC Members of Parliament who supported Kwesi Botchwey were assaulted to the extent that one of them resigned from office. In all these violence perpetuated by the NDC against its own members, the ultimate beneficiary was Atta-Mills. They did not end there, in the year 2006, this time at Koforidua, Dr. Obed Asamoah, the party�s national chairman, was once again subjected to the most inhuman political treatment from within his own camp. Frances Esiam, Bied Zeiden and many more who were opposed to Prof. Atta-Mills� leadership of the party were whipped and beaten like children. But for police intervention, lives would probably have been lost, all to protect Egya Atta�s interest. The outcome was that Dr. Obed Asamoah and others from the party resigned and formed their own party. In all the above situations, there was no single period when Egya Atta, the so-called asomdwoehene, made any efforts to extend a hand of reconciliation to those who were wronged by some party people, including Rawlings, as a process of healing wounds and allowing peace to prevail within his own party. What is happening in the NDC today, leading to a complete division in the party, once again revolves primarily around Egya Atta. Anywhere Egya Atta goes in the NDC, trouble brews. Is this the much touted asomdwoehene? Even within the NDC, he has consistently triumphed on the ticket of violence inflicted on others. On assumption of office, one would have expected that Egya Atta, having eventually become the President of this country, would shed off his false pretences and behave like a President who really cherishes peace. Far from that, he has instead presided over various acts of violence perpetrated by his NDC people against other political opponents, this time around. Just a few days after he was sworn into office, some NPP youth were gruesomely murdered at Agbogbloshie in day light and Egya Atta the asomdwoehene looked on with glee. Innocent people have been wilfully murdered and a President of peace does nothing about it. At Akwatia, Jihad in its raw and beastly form, in the full glare of the security agencies, and obviously being monitored by Egya Atta, was visited on NPP members. People and property were destroyed, all to get an NDC man to Parliament. No arrest so far. The asomdwoehene is aware of this. Cheriponi saw another of such barbaric acts which nearly caused the lives of some young NPP people. A goon of the NDC was captured on camera firing into the air in the midst of political opponents, which got a few of the NPP people hit by bullets. They were saved by Prof. Frimpong Boateng. Egya Atta the king of peace has done nothing about it. His own foot-soldiers invade and raid public offices and create pandemonium all over the place and the King of peace justifies that by saying it was a response to their joblessness? Can anyone imagine what would have happened if those attacked in those public offices had returned in equal measure of violence on the attackers? All under the watch of a man being painted as God fearing and peace loving. Hypocrites whose biggest weapon is deception. In the constitutional history of the leadership of this country, Egya Atta can be described as the most violent minded person since he rode on that road to the Presidency. If he does not change, history will be his best judge, and his children, if any at all, will have to unfortunately carry his cross. O jare, make I take my two tots of mahogany bitters to warm myself up in this cold weather.