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| Ex- President Rawlings with his wife |
Kofi Adams, Special Aide to former President Rawlings says the Rawlingses would face squarely, elements within the media that he claimed are conspiring to make the former first couple unpopular.
He told journalists at the former president’s Ridge office in Accra Monday that they have entertained “complete falsity” of the media for far too long, citing the Daily Dispatch’s reports on last Friday’s National Executive Committee meeting of the NDC as a typical case in point.
Kofi Adams accused the paper of reporting that the former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, who is widely believed to be a contender of President Mills for the party’s flag-bearership, disrespected the president by refusing to stand up and show courtesy to him. The Editor of the paper, Mr Ben Ephson, however denied mentioning Mrs Rawlings name.
Even though Mrs Rawlings had early on denied the reports on Joy FM, Mr Adams re-emphasized that the president’s arrival was not announced and the circumstance under which it happened it was impossible for a number of persons including Mrs Rawlings to notice President Mills and recognize his presence accordingly. “You have been invited to this [press conference] as a result of the need to correct some reportage that has been put out there that this office considers as complete falsity as what transpired at last NEC meeting of the National Democratic Congress on last Friday.”
He said at the meeting Mr Rawlings, who has also been accused of insulting the president, “used the appropriate language for the occasion… never did he insult the president”.
Mr Adams said in spite of all the conspiracies, former President Rawlings would continue to raise critical issues bothering the party. “I want to assure you that the former president and founder of the NDC will continue to raise very critical issues that affect this country and the NDC. No amount of lies, no amount of misinformation, no amount of distortions of what he says will stop him from continuing to tell and say what must happen and what must be done to make this country very health.”
He stressed that it was important for the party to do self-correction than to leave it to the opposition and the media to misconstrue happenings in the party to ruin it.
The Special Aide also denied that critical comments by the former president would destroy the party, rather, he said, the party’s reaction and twist put on the comments by some members of the NDC are those that would affect the party.
Touching on the violence that erupted in Tamale following the High Court’s ruling freeing 15 Abudus accused of murdering Ya Na Yakubu Andani II, where a young man was reportedly killed, Mr Adams said the police report that he was stabbed was “false”, saying “the truth is that he was shot”.
He said Mr Rawlings felt the issue needed attention and therefore he raised it during the NEC meeting and sought the President’s indulgence for an investigation to be set up by the Ministries of Defence and Interior to establish the cause of the his death.
He asserted that the former president was informed at the meeting that the security personnel used the young man as a shield when they confronted the rampaging NDC youth who destroyed party’s properties.
He described the action by the police as “not human”, adding that “this is not right”, and hoped the investigation would restore “government’s respectability and that of the uniformed personnel”.
Yet, he noted, the media reported that Mr Rawlings capitalized on the event to insult President Mills. He therefore challenged anyone with evidence of insult to produce it or forever keep quiet.
He told journalists at the former president’s Ridge office in Accra Monday that they have entertained “complete falsity” of the media for far too long, citing the Daily Dispatch’s reports on last Friday’s National Executive Committee meeting of the NDC as a typical case in point.
Kofi Adams accused the paper of reporting that the former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, who is widely believed to be a contender of President Mills for the party’s flag-bearership, disrespected the president by refusing to stand up and show courtesy to him. The Editor of the paper, Mr Ben Ephson, however denied mentioning Mrs Rawlings name.
Even though Mrs Rawlings had early on denied the reports on Joy FM, Mr Adams re-emphasized that the president’s arrival was not announced and the circumstance under which it happened it was impossible for a number of persons including Mrs Rawlings to notice President Mills and recognize his presence accordingly. “You have been invited to this [press conference] as a result of the need to correct some reportage that has been put out there that this office considers as complete falsity as what transpired at last NEC meeting of the National Democratic Congress on last Friday.”
He said at the meeting Mr Rawlings, who has also been accused of insulting the president, “used the appropriate language for the occasion… never did he insult the president”.
Mr Adams said in spite of all the conspiracies, former President Rawlings would continue to raise critical issues bothering the party. “I want to assure you that the former president and founder of the NDC will continue to raise very critical issues that affect this country and the NDC. No amount of lies, no amount of misinformation, no amount of distortions of what he says will stop him from continuing to tell and say what must happen and what must be done to make this country very health.”
He stressed that it was important for the party to do self-correction than to leave it to the opposition and the media to misconstrue happenings in the party to ruin it.
The Special Aide also denied that critical comments by the former president would destroy the party, rather, he said, the party’s reaction and twist put on the comments by some members of the NDC are those that would affect the party.
Touching on the violence that erupted in Tamale following the High Court’s ruling freeing 15 Abudus accused of murdering Ya Na Yakubu Andani II, where a young man was reportedly killed, Mr Adams said the police report that he was stabbed was “false”, saying “the truth is that he was shot”.
He said Mr Rawlings felt the issue needed attention and therefore he raised it during the NEC meeting and sought the President’s indulgence for an investigation to be set up by the Ministries of Defence and Interior to establish the cause of the his death.
He asserted that the former president was informed at the meeting that the security personnel used the young man as a shield when they confronted the rampaging NDC youth who destroyed party’s properties.
He described the action by the police as “not human”, adding that “this is not right”, and hoped the investigation would restore “government’s respectability and that of the uniformed personnel”.
Yet, he noted, the media reported that Mr Rawlings capitalized on the event to insult President Mills. He therefore challenged anyone with evidence of insult to produce it or forever keep quiet.
Source: Joy Online
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