The late JEA Mills
THE UGLY squabble between some factions of the late Prof. John Evans Atta Mills and his successor, ex-President John Dramani Mahama, appears to be far from over, with “the launch of the John Evans Atta Mills Memorial Heritage” sparking off another dispute among the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) members.
Almost 10 years since his death, the legacy of the late President Mills has been entangled in a bitter political dispute which would certainly not have been among the man’s visions for the future.
Prof. Mills’ surviving loyalists and children in the NDC, who have little control in the political grouping, are slugging it out with the Mahama faction over his most treasured goodwill as an iconic peacemaker, which is potentially very valuable, particularly given that ex-President Mahama capitalised on it to ride to power in 2012.
The current tussle began soon after the launch of the Atta Mills Memorial Heritage held at the Cedi Conference at the University of Ghana in Accra to project the late president’s passion and commitment to inclusivity, transparency, accountability and his relentless quest for peace and a better society, with the NDC Deputy General Secretary, Peter Boamah Otokunor, trying to take credit for the opposition party.
“It is launch. I do not teach people who work with me bad English,” the Founder and CEO of Atta-Mills Institute reacted, while expressing his frustration over attempt by some loyalists of ex-President Mahama to share honours in the legacy of the late professor they had so hated before his death.
He suggested that Mr. Otokunor, who succeeded him as NDC Deputy General Secretary, speaks “bad English” and could not have worked with him.
Otokunor Speaks
Boamah Otokunor told the media, “There were top senior citizens who were here to mark the launch of this heritage,” and Mr. Koku Anyidoho stated that the NDC bigwig pronounced the word “launch” as “lunch” which suggested that Mr. Otokunor is not a good speaker of English language.
This is not the first time the two factions in the NDC have squared off against each other, verbally attacking one another.
Earlier Squabble
The suspended NDC stalwart last year came out publicly to claim that former President John Dramani Mahama hated the late Professor John Evans Atta Mills.
He fired on social media platform Twitter asking, “Why did John Dramani Mahama hate his boss President John Evans Atta-Mills; and extended the hatred to Koku Anyidoho?”
Asomdwe Park
He also said Mr. Mahama, after succeeding the late President Mills, refused to build the Asomdwe Park close to the Independence Square at Osu, Accra – where the mortal remains of Prof. Mills was interred.
“Why did John Mahama REFUSE to build the Asomdwe Park? Let the world know that I do not hate JM; he hates me because of my loyalty to President Atta-Mills,” Koku Anyidoho stated.
Long-standing ‘Fight’
There have been long-standing rumours that Mr. Mahama and Koku Anyidoho do not ‘see eye to eye’ and the rumours appeared to have gained currency with the recent social media posts of the suspended NDC official.
Koku Anyidoho served as the Communications Director when Prof. Mills was President and Mr. Mahama was the Vice President, until the sudden death of the President on July 24, 2012.
During the period, there were claims that Koku Anyidoho did not ‘respect’ then Vice President (Mr. Mahama) and Mr. Mahama in turn did not ‘like’ him.
Waning Power
Immediately Prof. Mills passed on, Koku Anyidoho’s power and authority waned even before the 2012 general election was held, which Mr. Mahama and his NDC won, albeit controversially, as he appeared to have been ostracised by the Mahama-led NDC administration.
Koku Anyidoho at the next NDC congress in December 2014, contested as Deputy General Secretary and won massively with 2,337 votes and as a result moved to the NDC headquarters, leaving his work at the presidency to concentrate on party work.
However, his attempt to unseat Asiedu Nketia as General Secretary failed in November 2018 when he was beaten heavily at the congress.
He has since been working as the head of the Atta-Mills Institute, a think-thank he is spearheading in memory of the late Prof. Mills.
Ready For Mahama
Koku Anyidoho berated Mr. Mahama again on Twitter and said he was ‘ready’ for the former President.
“Why did John Mahama not follow the steps of his boss President Atta-Mills, and construct the main trunk road to UHAS? I have questions for JOHN MAHAMA to answer and I am now ready for him,” he added.
He then begged President Akufo-Addo to help construct the road to UHAS, the science university which was established by Prof. Mills in Ho in the Volta Region.
“In the name of the Atta-Mills Institute, I am on my knees pleading with Prez Akufo-Addo to do all he can to construct the main trunk road from Sokode to UHAS,” he pleaded, adding, “John Mahama refused to do it because he hated his boss Prez Atta-Mills; Prez Akufo-Addo will do it to honour a classmate.”
Love For Mills
When he was NDC Deputy General Secretary, Koku Anyidoho was once asked about his relationship with former President Mahama and he bizarrely reiterated his love for the late Prof. Mills without answering how he was faring with Mr. Mahama.
Appearing on GHOne TV current affairs programme, ‘State of Affairs’, hosted by Nana Aba Anamoah in March 2017, Koku Anyidoho, instead of talking about his relationship with Mr. Mahama, said “I loved President Mills; I worked for President Mahama.”
“I will never regret working for him… President Mills, I salute you in your grave! Nobody will take that away from me,” he declared.
He then appeared to suggest that his love for Mr. Mahama was conditional and also said he loved the NDC as a party and that “leadership will rotate.”
Koku Suspension
In February 2021, the NDC said it had suspended Koku Anyidoho over what they called anti-party conduct.
A statement signed by the party’s General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, on February 8, 2021, said two separate petitions had been made to the Functional Executive Committee (FEC) of the party against Mr. Anyidoho, whose conduct was “viewed to be a breach of the party’s disciplinary code for its members as contained in the NDC Constitution.”
According to the statement, the suspension was with immediate effect and the party’s disciplinary committee will take further actions.
“At its meeting on January 20, 2021, FEC considered two separate petitions from two registered members of the National Democratic Congress (copies attached) each of which lodged an official complaint against your conduct, which is viewed to be in breach of the Party’s disciplinary code for its members as contained in the NDC Constitution. The petitioners are: Mr. Mubarak Abdul-Karim (Oti Reg. Com. Officer). Eric Adjei (Bono Reg. Dep. Com. Officer),” the suspension letter said.
“At the end of its deliberations, the following decisions were taken in accordance with articles 46(I), 46(6) and 46(8)(b) of the Party’s Constitution,” it said, adding that “with immediate effect your membership of the NDC be suspended.”
The letter also said that “the petitions be referred to the Party’s disciplinary committee for further action. You are therefore by this letter to take note, and notice is hereby given, that your membership of the NDC is suspended pending the hearing and final determination of the petitions against your conduct.”
Rubbish Suspension
After he was suspended, he said he had “not seen a letter that I have been suspended by the NDC,” and called the decision ‘rubbish’.
“I have NOT been hauled before any so-called Disciplinary Committee. Let Asiedu Nketia and Ofosu-Ampofo prove that they have suspended me. I am focused on my Atta-Mills Institute and will not respond to any rubbish again,” he fired.
Allotey Jacobs
The NDC has since sacked another Prof. Mills loyalist, Bernard Allotey Jacobs, aka Educated Fisherman, who is a former Central Regional Chairman of the party, also for anti-party activities.
Interestingly, two weeks before the party’s decision, Allotey Jacobs had announced that he had left the NDC and said he was going to support President Akufo-Addo and Vice President Dr. Bawumia to succeed because he saw in them some sterling quality leadership that Ghana needed.
BY Ernest Kofi Adu