IN his book, “Executive-Parliament Interface in the Legislative Process (1993-2006) A Synergy of Power?”, which was reviewed by Professor Mike Ocquaye of the NPP and Mr. Kwamena Ahwoi of the NDC at the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG) last week Wednesday, Professor Kwame Ninsin, the author, draws a remarkable conclusion that in terms of their attitude towards Parliament, the NDC’s former President Jerry John Rawlings is a far better democrat than the NPP’s incumbent President John Agyekum Kufuor! This is how Professor Ninsin arrives at the remarkable conclusion at pages 71-72of his book: “On the one hand, we have had a president (with military background who had also staged two coups d’etat and imposed a military regime on the country for 10 years during which there was little semblance of liberal democratic culture and practice. During this president’s tenure he, together with his party’s majority in the legislature, showed a significant disposition toward compromise, cooperation and consensus. In this case, the president did not always employ the advantages of power he possessed over the legislature to get his policies through parliament. At crucial times he was responsive enough to cooperate with the legislature, make concessions, and submit to the “majority view or will” where contrary views and opposition from within legislature, including the minority side, and from the general public, were viewed as weighty enough to deserve attention. On the other hand, the president who espouses a long tradition of liberal democracy has shown less inclination to compromise, dialogue and cooperate with the minority party when critical or contrary positions were expressed. There has been a strong tendency toward ultra-majoritarian practices in the legislature. This contrast poses a paradox, which is that the presidents of the two periods have enjoyed the same advantages of power – constitutional and structural. Why therefore do they manifest two different modes of relating to the legislature? First, both of them inherited the power advantages emanating from the constitutional design that distributes power in favour of the executive and thereby facilitates executive dominance of the legislature. Second, the other structures of power that we identified earlier in this study have been available to both executives; namely the president’s majority party caucus in parliament, the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Members of Parliament who are members of the President’s Government, Chairpersons of key Parliamentary Committees, and the office of the Speaker of Parliament who is effectively appointed by the President through his majority party caucus in parliament. The electoral system has also functioned in favour of the executive since 1993. These power resources have been available to both presidents who have governed the country since 1993. This notwithstanding, it appears that from 2001 to 2006 the President was more inclined toward maximizing these power resources to achieve his policy goals. It is true that the constitutional design of power relations determines the balance of power between the executive and the legislature. However the evidence from the power dynamics in the legislative process strongly suggests that the peculiar culture of power that prevailed during the period 2001-2006 accounts for the drift toward ultra-majoritarianism. That is, the particular norms about power shared respectively by the two regimes decisively shaped their conception of how to accumulate and use power. This distinguishes the level of power mobilization during the two periods in question: it explains he fact that during the third and fourth parliaments, the executive made maximum use of Articles 78 (1) and 79 (2) which provide that the President must appoint majority of ministers and their deputies from among members of parliament. He also employed the plenitude of executive power over the legislature that the constitution confers on him”.

GHANA PALAVER has intercepted a letter that reveals that the NPP Presidential candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo, held a meeting with the leadership of hawkers from Accra and Kumasi at which he promised them loans from MASLOC in exchange for their votes. MASLOC is a state-sponsored loan scheme meant for medium and small-scale entrepreneurs without regard to political affiliation. It is funded by the Ghanaian taxpayer. As a result of the promise, a hawker and member of the Public Affairs and National Research Committee of the NPP, Mr. Joseph I. Asamoah-Gyamfi, wrote a Memo to the Chairman of the NPP National Campaign Committee dated 15th July 2008 and copied to Kwabena Adjei Adjapong, urging them to facilitate the micro-loans from MASLOC to the hawkers. The Memo recommended that MASLOC loans ranging from GH¢1000 (¢10 million) to GH¢500 (¢50 million) be paid to the hawkers in fulfilment of the promise. The Memo also reminded the Chairman of the National Campaign Committee of Nana Akufo-Addo’s promise to the hawkers to solve the problem facing them at the Tema Station and the Pedestrians Shopping Mall in Accra and to construct shopping malls at PZ Enclave (as Watch Sellers Market), Antoa Road No. 2, Miloso and Yaachaa area at Suame, all in Kumasi. Sounding distraught, the author of the Memo, Mr. Asamoah-Gyamfi, suggested a meeting to be convened by Nana Akufo-Addo with the Metropolitan Chief Executives (MCEs) of AMA and KMA and to be attended by “Dr. Anane” (presently Dr. Richard Anane, Minister of Road Transportation), “Ambassador Osei” (presently Ambassador D.K. Osei, Secretary to the President) and Kofi Dwomor (Deputy Minister of Local Government) to secure their commitment to solve the problems at the marketing place of the hawkers. The fear of Mr. Asamoah-Gyamfi is that if they do not expedite action, “the Transport Ministry might exhort [sic] its budget; and the hawkers might loss [sic] confidence in Nana Addo. Attached to the Memo is a list of the Leadership and Members of the hawkers who require the “loans”, their telephone numbers and the amounts they require which is reproduced below:

THE widely publicized rumour about Nana Akufo-Addo the NPP’s Presidential Candiate’s addiction to drugs, particularly cocaine, has landed at an Accra Fast Track High Court. Ken Kuranchie, Editor of an Accra private newspaper the “Daily Searchlight”, has sued Mr. Kofi Wayo, Founder and Leader of the United Renaissance Party(URP) and Network Broadcasting Company LTD operators of ‘Radio Gold’ an Accra based private radio station for libel in Suit number AD / 14/2008, filed, at an Accra Fast Track High Court presided over by His Lordship Mr. Justice Edward Amoako Asante.

Mr. Ken Kuranchie is seeking the court’s order, jointly and severally for: (a) An order for perpetual injunction restraining the defendants, their agents, assigns, and privies from further publishing such libelous materials against the plaintiff, and all other persons name associated thereto. (b) Complete retraction and unqualified apology from the defendants (c) Punitive damages for libel

In his statement, Ken Kuranchie stated that “ On 11th February, 2008, defendants in formed listeners on Radio Gold that the plaintiff had in formed him that Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party(NPP) was a drug addict and he uses drugs. In the same forum defendant alleged that plaintiff also takes bribes from defendant to spy on other Journalists. He also alleges that plaintiff is poor and cannot manage his own affairs and that plaintiff had taken bribe of fifty million Cedis (¢50million ) from Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. The defendant publicshed all these falsehoods in worldwide media in order to tarnish plaintiff’s image.”

Ken Kuranchie who is being represented by Lawyer Dubik Mahama Yakubu, of Flosus Chambers, has issued twenty five grounds in his statement of claim. Among others he is claiming that “ on Monday 11th February, 2008, the defendant accused Plaintiff of telling him that Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the Presidential Candidate of the NPP is a drug addict and that it was based on the claim made to him by plaintiff that he went on the programme ( Alhaji and Alhaji) also broadcast on Radio Gold, to make the claim that “Nana Akufo-Addo is a drug addict and he should go for a blood test to prove he’s clean”

The Editor of the ‘Daily Searchlight’ claims that “ the publication depicts him as a Journalist who cannot earn a living unless he blackmails other Journalists and other persons by being paid by such persons as the defendant.” And that “ the defendants have injured his reputation and defamed him by the publication of these falsehoods against him which have been circulated by the defendants.”

Ken Kuranchie denied vigorously ever taking any money from the Kofi Wayo for any such purposes as he Kofi Wayo asserts “ in the said forum that he always gave money to him to destroy others and engage in nefarious activities” and that such an assertion will be put to the strictest proof.

It would be recalled that before the NPP’s bitter national delegates’ congress last year, anonymous text messages were circulated to many people alleging Nana Akufo-Addos drug use. Soon after he was declared the New Patriotic Party’s Presidential Candidate after the congress in December 2007, the rumours were intensified by such person as Kofi Wayo.

The case is now before court, bringing Nana Akufo-Addo’s character as one seeking the highest office of the land, the presidency, and alleged drug addiction into clear public domain to be contested. Legal Experts speak of a bruising fight in court in which Nana Akufo-Addo himself, would be a subject of cross examination in court as part of the defense’s strategy.

How this will play out, with about three months to election day, remains to be seen by political pundits. Next Friday, the ‘Ghana Palaver’ will bring readers the considered legal grounds for defense by Radio Gold, the second defendants in this interesting case.

Mr. Kwamena Ahwoi, former Minister of Local Government and Rural Development in the NDC Government, has praised the Ghanaian media for effectively playing its role in holding the Government accountable where Parliament failed the people. He said this was what was required of the media under Article 162 (5) of the Constitution. Mr. Ahwoi was reviewing a research study report undertaken by Professor Kwame Ninsin, a Fellow of the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG) entitled “Executive-Parliament Interface in the Legislative Process (1993-2001). A Synergy of Powers?” at the Institute last week. According to Mr. Ahwoi, in the discussion of the CNTCI loan at pages 29-31, as was the case with the previous IFC (International Financial Consortium) loan which unfortunately is not discussed in the study, an important phenomenon that emerged but that is not discussed at all in the study report, is the role of the media in the Parliamentary process in particular and in a democracy in general. In both cases, the loans had been approved and that should have ended the matter. But the media raised questions about the loans in such forceful terms as to force a re-opening of the debates by Parliament. In the IFC case, the Government finally backed down. In the CNTCI case, the loan never materialised. The lesson: Where Parliament fails, the media can succeed and that it is possible for the media to effectively play its constitutional role of holding the Government accountable (Article 162 (5)), and of playing its role as the “Fourth Estate of the Republic”. Mr. Ahwoi found exogenous factors as partly to blame for the degeneration of Executive-Parliament relations into one of first, hostility and confrontation between 2001-2005 and secondly, 2005-2006. According to him, the 2001 transition was acrimonious and rancorous in the extreme despite the seeming peace and tranquillity with which it was effected. The extra-Parliamentary accusations and counter-accusations, the vituperations, the investigations and prosecutions all poisoned the political atmosphere and this was transferred into the atmosphere in the Third Parliament. Once the parties outside Parliament were not talking to each other, it was difficult to see how the Parliamentary parties would be talking to each other. This was clearly one of the major reasons for the increasing “Hostility and Open Confrontation” in the Third Parliament as found by the research study. The continued investigations and prosecution of members of the previous NDC Administration and especially the prosecution of the former First Lady worsened the atmosphere in the era of the Fourth Parliament and has clearly affected the relationships between the two major political parties in the House, making cooperation very difficult. In the circumstances, it is not difficult to understand why ultra-majoritarianism has developed because it is clear that given the slightest excuse, the NDC minority would have it in for the President. Mr. Ahwoi described as factually inaccurate the book's account and analysis of the “Retained Ministers Case” in the Second Parliament in the Rawlings era. He says that throughout the publication, the author describes the Supreme Court decision in the “Retained Ministers Case” as “having gone against the NDC majority”. In fact, that is not correct, he analysed. According to him, the Supreme Court delivered a very “Solomonic” judgement which virtually declared the case a “draw”, which is what enabled the two sides to reach the compromise in Parliament. What the Supreme Court decided was that all Ministers needed “prior approval”, but that “prior approval” was not a “term of art”. In other words, prior approval did not necessarily imply Parliamentary vetting, which is what the minority wanted. In other words, it was left to Parliament to decide whether in giving 'prior approval' to certain Ministers, Parliament could dispense with the requirement of vetting. So what the NDC, using its majority in Parliament, got the minority to agree was that in the case of the “retained Ministers”, their “prior approval” would not require Parliamentary vetting and that the approval given at the time of the minority boycott of Parliament was sufficient for purposes of “prior approval”. Mr. also found the statement at page 73 of the book that Rawlings never refused to assent to any Bills during his two terms in office as factually inaccurate. He said President Rawlings actually refused to assent to the National Communications Bill and returned it to Parliament with copious comments. All the President's comments were incorporated into the Bill before it was finally passed and returned to him for assent which he did for it to become the National Communications Act, 1996, Act 524. During Question Time, Mr. Kwamena Ahwoi explained that Parliament has what it takes to wean itself from Executive influence, yet it has failed to employ the arsenals at its disposal. “So far as the Majority and Minority will not come together to look at issues, the Executive will continue to dominate. It is the Parliamentarians that pass the budgets for the Executive; they approve all the perks that the members of the executive enjoy. Why can't they assert themselves?” he questioned. He disagreed with the recommendations of the book that the Fourth Republican Constitution of 1992 be amended to preclude the President from appointing Ministers from Parliament. He says the book overlooked the fact that Article 78 (1) which enjoins the President to appoint Ministers of State from Parliament is rooted in history. The Article provides that Ministers of State shall be appointed by the President with the prior approval of Parliament from among members of Parliament or persons qualified to be elected as members of Parliament, except that the majority of Ministers of State shall be appointed from among members of Parliament. Mr. Ahwoi recalled that during the Busia-led Progress Party regime of 1969-1972, the Constitution based on the Parliamentary system of government prescribed that all Ministers must come from Parliament. Accordingly, nobody from the Volta Region could be appointed a Minister of State because the party did not win any seat in the region. “The effect of that arrangement was that a whole region was cut off from the governance of the country.” He related how similarly, the Budget of the People's National Party led by Dr. Hilla Limann was defeated in the Third Republic Parliament in 1981 because Ministers were not in House to debate it. The Third Republican Constitution was modelled on the Presidential system of government which set out an arrangement of clear separation of powers between the Executive and Legislature under which all Ministers had to come from outside Parliament. Mr. Ahwoi said the fusion of the Executive and Legislature under the 1992 Constitution was therefore a compromise between the two extreme systems of governance the Parliamentary and Presidential systems. Also reviewing the book, Professor Mike Ocquaye, a former Minister in the NPP administration, observed that Parliament is polarized because almost every issue in the country has been politicized. “We are all non-accommodating,” he admitted, adding “we must move away from this stance and work towards consensus building”. To him the current hybrid system of governance is appropriate in that it enables Ministers to provide vital information and data to Parliament which enriches debate and decision making in the House. In his view, the book is a well-researched book “whether one agrees with the views or not expressed therein”. To ensure the sustainability of our nascent democracy, Prof. Ocquaye suggested that all stakeholders must respect Supreme Court decisions on electoral matters and that the Supreme Court must do well to dispose of electoral matters brought before it within two weeks.

It will be recalled that in opposition, the NPP vehemently objected to then President Rawlings and NDC Ministers commissioning projects in election years, describing it as an “abuse of incumbency”. NPP Nana Akufo-Addo’s Campaign Manager Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, the "certificateless" former Minister and son of the bomb-thrower Emmanuel Obetsebi-Lamptey, continues to display his crass hypocrisy of the NPP and his own disingenuous characteristics when it comes to applying common sense. In a letter dated 3rd June 2008 addressed to NPP Chief of Staff Kwadwo Mpiani, Jake advised that the NPP should commission more development projects in order to attract votes. In his own words, the NPP is not telling its story so “starting now, we have a nationwide blitz of commissioning of local projects by ministers, deputy ministers, local dignitaries etc. These commissionings to be done involving the constituency party so that NPP can claim credit. This is especially important in non-NPP constituencies where MPs from other parties try to take credit for what we have done”. In the letter with the address given as P.O. Box CT 4645, Accra, Ghana, Te: 0244-326637 Fax 021-257859, e-mail: obetsebilamptey@hotmail.com Jake explains that he was in Sege the previous weekend where he learnt that “there were at least five projects that had been completed, including schools, post office etc. that had never been formally commissioned. A classic case of not telling our story”. It was this “discovery” that prompted Jake to “instruct” the Chief of Staff on the strategy, ending with the order that “to make sure that we maximise the impact, I would like the Campaign Secretariat to be fully informed. I would therefore appreciate a schedule of events on a continuing basis”. The letter is copied to the NPP Flagbearer, National Chairman, Campaign Director and Chairman of the Communication Committee. It will be recalled that in opposition, the NPP vehemently objected to then President Rawlings and NDC Ministers commissioning projects in election years, describing it as an “abuse of incumbency”. They made common cause with the Ghana Bar Association which, in one of its Annual Resolutions, condemned the practice and called on President Rawlings and the NDC to put a stop to it.

The New Patriotic Party (NPP), a party founded on the basis of ethnic supremacy, is at it again. Pushed to the wall by its own negative political performance in office since January 2001, and facing certain defeat in the December elections, the party has resorted to the open canvassing of votes on a tribal basis in many parts of the country as the campaign heats up and the day of reckoning draws near. Only last week, the NPP flag bearer, Wiliam Addo-Danquah Akufo-Addo, known alternatively as Willie or Billy in his childhood silver spoon days, was virtually preaching the loathsome gospel of tribal politics in the Central and Greater Accra Regions to a stunned audience of so-called patriots. In the Central Region, Nana Akufo-Addo, as he is now known, called on Fantes in the Central Region to reject the NDC flag bearer, Professor John Evans Atta Mills because he is not fit to represent them as President of Ghana, even though Atta Mills is a Fante like them. He then went to Bukom Square, in the heart of the Odododioodoo Constituency in Greater Accra, to make the opposite claim to his bemused listeners. In Accra, he reversed his logic and implored Ga people to vote for him because he was born and bred in Accra, and also because his wife is a Ga! Under normal circumstances, your authoritative Ghana Palaver would have ignored this blatant ethnocentric foolishness from a potential president of Ghana, but when these sentiments are taken in conjunction with similar remarks from other NPP stooges, then this paper must contribute to set the minds of long-suffering Ghanaians at ease. This paper's unease is strengthened by the extremely uncomfortable fact that ALL those making these anti-Atta Mills claims are NOT Fantes. An example is one Eric Bawah who writes for the NPP mouthpiece, the Daily Guide. In his contribution to this arrant nonsense in his column of September 3, 2008, Mr. Bawah virtually called Professor Mills a fool for daring to stand for President and ask Fantes for support! As several commentators have pointed out, none of these NPP politicians, to follow their own sick logic to its pre-ordained conclusion, have seen it fit to call on Ashantis and Akyems to abandon their ETERNAL electoral support for their kinsmen who founded and lead the NPP. The Ashanti Region has, since 1951, NEVER voted for any other party apart from the NPP and its predecessors, the NLM, the United Party, the Progress Party, and the Popular Front Party. It is unlikely this rigid voting pattern will change in the future, and the reason is obvious. Compare the voting pattern in the Ashanti Region with that of the Volta Region in the same period, and the difference is stark and troubling. Voltarians in 1960 voted overwhelmingly for Dr. Danquah for president. From 1951 to 1956, they had voted equally well for both the CPP and the allied parties of the NLM in the region. In 1979, when Akyems and Ashantis shared the honours in voting massively for Paa Willie Ofori-Atta and Victor Owusu respectively, the people of the Volta Region gave their support to the PNP of Dr. Limann who became president of the short-lived 3rd Republic. The Central and Western Regions have had a similar history of varied voting histories as the Volta Region in the electoral history of this country. The parties from which the NPP sprung have NEVER exhibited this level of political sophistication, and are unlikely, on the basis of the evidence, to ever achieve such a nuanced approach to NATIONAL politics. We make bold, on the basis of these facts, to say to William Akufo-Addo and his party the NPP that Fantes are not fools. The Fantes of Ghana have a better, prouder and more distinguished claim to being the TYPICAL GHANAIAN VOTER than the descendants of Mate-me-ho politicians who wanted to carve themselves out of the polity in the 1950s. The Fantes of Ghana are not the punching bags of any other ethnic groups in this country. The Fantes of Ghana have no explanation to offer any other Ghanaian if they prefer Professor Atta Mills over William Akufo-Addo for the high position of President. The Fantes of Ghana do not appreciate being patronized by the self-appointed, so-called champions of other parties who are hiding behind this barefaced tribal politics to advance their sinister agenda of belittling them. It is not funny anymore, Nana Akufo-Addo!

There are very good reasons, buttressed by history that justify the recognition of the media, as the “Fourth Estate of the Realm,” in world democracies. Of course, the fourth, because the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary, had then already gained their positions, as the first, second and third arms of Government respectively in the democratic world. The role of the media had then served as an “umpire” with unfettered loyalty to none, other than the state, in the democratic process. With time, however, this honourable position has been compromised, to some extent, in almost all the democracies, but, not completely whittled away. In Ghana, for instance, a section of the media has stayed, on course and helped to expose wrongdoings in Government, for it to correct them. In this regard, it is with humility, that we express our appreciation to the comments made by Mr. Kwamena Ahwoi, Former Minister of Local Government, in acknowledging the strong position taken by the media against the Government, by some instances, where even Parliament had failed the people, in saving the country from being cheated by some foreign crooks. Mr. Ahwoi was speaking at a public function, in a review of a research study report, undertaken by Prof Kwame Ninsin, a Fellow of the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG), entitled “Executive-Parliament Interface in the Legislative Process (1993-2001): a Synergy of Powers? In his reference to the role of the media, Mr. Ahwoi, dealt with a section of the report on the discussion of the CNTCI loan and, also added that of the previous IFC (International Financial Consortium) loan, which was not included in the report, but still relevant to the issue at stake. In both cases, as Mr. Ahwoi rightly pointed out, although Parliament approved the loans, the media still fought on, until the Government, itself, threw in the towel, when it found its way virtually “blocked” by the might of Truth. Although Mr. Ahwoi's reference to that media struggle and the apparent “weakness” of Parliament, was not the main subject of the function, we still find it necessary to go a little further and remind Ghanaians on the need to encourage the media to continue to fight “such battles”, especially, where in most cases, the Executive has managed to twist the arm of the Legislature to support its policies, however un-rewarding they may be to the nation. Recently, the Government committed itself to a deal with a foreign company, Vodafone, in which the country's main communication enterprise, Telecom, was virtually given to the foreigners, like a birth-day gift. Although, the media pointed out the flaws in that deal, the Executive bull-dozed its way, through its parliamentary majority, endorse the auction sale. Since then, all is quiet, with the exception of a section of the media, which is still carrying on the fight. Indeed, “matters arising” out of the bad deal, exposed through the media and some progressive organizations, have shocked Ghanaians, to the extent that many would be happier if the case were to be re-opened. We are proud to be part of the on-going campaign and we promise not to rest on our oars until what is wrong is righted. Lest we are misunderstood or found to be engaging in preposterous ventures, we wish to emphasize that our position, in this instance, is not that of our established policy of fighting the NPP's case of bad governance, which will eventually land it in defeat in December, but it is because of the grief, that we suffer, with each passing day, while VODAFONE continues to milk the nation white.

THE political event, that was organized by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) at Bukom Square in Accra, last Friday evening, fortunately, exposed the party, for what it really pursues and believes in, as a doctrine. The event crowned a week, during which the NPP, born out of tribalistic politics, surprisingly, turned round to accuse Prof Evans Atta Mills, the flag bearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), of rather being tribalistic. The flag bearer, during his recent successful campaign-tour of the Central Region, had merely noted the neglect and suffering of the fishing communities and promised to improve their conditions, by assisting to revive the fishing industry to become a viable and lucrative venture. Of course, he could not hide the fact that, with his background, he stands in a better position, to understand the gravity of the problems of the fishermen. With nothing convincing to tell Ghanaians, as to why the NPP must stay in power, after next December, the leadership, as well as the robot-like serial callers, set in motion, their lying machine and twisted the assurance to the fishermen, as an insult to the non- coastal people. The tribal card was quickly retrieved from their political dungeons and thrown at Prof Mills, accusing him of preaching tribalism to the Fante coastal communities. In their haste to prosecute the Prof, they even forgot that it is not only Fantes that are fishing, along our coast and that there are many other tribes, like the Gas, Adas, Ewes and even others, who do not hail from coastal areas, who are also involved in the canoe fishing industry, in the Central Region. Again, these well-known breeds of tribal politics even forgot that the logs used in constructing the canoes, are brought from the interior part of the country and thus a source of income for the inland dwellers. Fortunately, as the heavens willed it, these accusers in no time, returned to their old habits at the Bukom Square event and highlighted their tribal politics, in their speeches, interspersed with their awkward kangaroo dances. First was the introduction on stage of Mrs. Akufo-Addo, husband of NPP flag bearer Nana Akufo-Addo, and one-time wife of the flag bearer's friend, the late Chappie Hutton-Mills. And, her only importance to the NPP campaign, according to the leadership, is that she is a Ga, who hails from the area and hence the need for the Gas to vote for her new husband. Then came Nana Akufo-Addo's own credentials, which also included the fact that he was born at Akoto-Lante, in the same area, a fact which, to the NPP, must attract Ga votes, come December. Many could hardly believe their ears, while that tribal card was being played, to crown a week, when their very Danquah-Busia elements, had deafened all, with their anti-tribal protests against Prof Mils. Wonders! For, surely, those claims rubbished all the noise against the concocted story about the NDC flag bearer. And, it was not surprising that many observers had to cock their ears, as that noted clown of a Minister mounted the platform to seal their own doom, by laying more emphasis on the tribal connection, with references to the position taken by some Gas, during the “Tokyo Joe” days. The man does not know his history. For, Accra Central was the place that an Nzema, Kwame Nkrumah, while in prison, collected the highest of votes to beat the candidate of the Danquah group. If, there should be any advice against tribalism, it is the NPP that must advise itself.

The report of findings into Pre-Election Environment, conducted by the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO), a wing or subsidiary body of the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) for the month of August 2008 has confirmed assertions of bribery and political corruption against the New Patriotic Party (NPP). The report signed by Prof Miranda Greenstreet, co-chairperson, of CODEO Advisory Board said the August field observers (FOs) of the organization found that several millions of new Ghana cedis were given to electorates by NPP party executives. According to the Report, NPP executives were observed giving T-Shirts and thousands of new Cedis to electorates ahead of most of the party's rallies. It cited that in the NPP's rally in Brakwa in the Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa constituency of the Central Region, huge unspecified sums of money were given to delegates. The report said, also, that CODEO field observers witnessed misuse and abuse of public office for partisan gain. “The Municipal Chief Executive of the Offinso South Municipal Assembly who was on a familiarization tour of the district, is reported to have used the occasion to also campaign for the NPP presidential and parliamentary aspirants. The Chief Executive was heard canvassing the electorate to vote for the incumbent to ensure the continuation of the NPP government's programme and projects,” the report claimed. “Ghana Palaver,” meanwhile, has gathered from its sources in the various regions that serious misuse and abuse of public office are predominant in the remote parts of the country, where access to nearby communities are hampered by bad roads and inaccessibility of transport). On political party primaries, the report stated that intra-party conflicts and disputes in some parliamentary primaries marred the whole process of peaceful selection of candidates. It said, NPP party executives in the Offinso South Constituency in the Ashanti Region were unable to resolve a dispute surrounding the selection of their parliamentary nominee. As a result, it said, a faction of the local party leadership threatened to resist any attempt by the constituency chairman to impose the incumbent MP on the constituency. Also, the report said NDC executives' attempt to replace a duly-selected nominee with another person sparked off disputes between the local party executives and the nominee in the Agona West Constituency of the Central Region. Incidence of violence, according to the report, were rampant in the on-going political party campaigns in some constituencies and disclosed that at Afransi in the Gomoa East Constituency in the Central region, the police had a tough time controlling the crowd and rescuing the incumbent NPP MP who had been attacked by a group of angry youth during his campaign tour. The youth, it said, were apparently protesting against the poor performance of the MP. The report further stated that party supporters destroyed two campaign posters of rival political parties in some constituencies. CODEO recommended, per its observations that to ensure peaceful, issue-based, free, fair, and credible elections, it is important that the political parties and their agents strictly adhere to the provisions of the political parties code regarding campaigning, especially the provision on posting of posters and the scheduling of campaigns. Additionally, it asked public officials to refrain from the use of state platforms and other public resources for partisan campaigning. It further called for the strengthening of security at political party campaign events.