Blow to Rawlings as Mills declared winner in party race against wife

Ghana’s former President Jerry Rawlings has finally lost his charm and charisma after delegates at the ruling National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) primary used their thumb to reject his wife, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings’s challenge to replace incumbent President John Atta Mills at next year’s election.

Out of 2,861 votes, Nana Agyeman-Rawlings could only poll 90 votes against President Mills’ 2,771.

If she had won, this would have been the first time that a serving president is changed after his first term in office since the country returned to Constitutional rule in 1992.

It looks this logic must have worked against Nana Agyeman-Rawlings because weeks into their campaign, most analysis in the media had questioned the rationale for the challenge against President Mills.

There was also the issue of Mr Rawlings’ continuous criticisms of President Mills which started just two weeks after he took office.

“People get fed up when you become irritating. This defeat was a clear sign that the NDC is fed up with Mr Rawlings who has since President Mills came into office has been his main critic.

“He has become more vociferous than the opposition party,” said governance expert, Mr Jacob Manu.

Rawlings does not only criticise President Mills. When former President John Kufuor was in power, Mr Rawlings did not spare him.

“Most Ghanaians have come to see Rawlings as someone who thinks he is the only wise man in Ghana. This cannot be the case and a time would come when the people would kick against you,” Mr Manu said.

The massive show of support would definitely give President Mills some confidence because, Mr Rawlings would no longer have any basis to criticise him.

Mr Manu said, “the defeat is overwhelming and it finally must show to Mr Rawlings that the grass-root supporters he had always claimed to be fighting for with his criticism against President Mills had lost faith in him.”

Nana Agyeman-Rawlings had always said on her campaign trail that it was the grass-root supporters who had pushed her to challenge President Mills in order to fight their cause.

However, the same people failed to show their support to her challenge. It was not only the result that gave the indication that, Mr Rawlings and his family’s hold on the party and the country had perhaps come to an end.

They were booed when they entered the Coronation Park. There were also boos from where a group of ministers were seated when Nana Agyeman-Rawlings was addressing the delegates and she was forced to remark that, “minister are supposed to be disciplined people before they were appointed.”