Crisis Meeting At Castle Abandoned!

The much publicized parley between President John Agyekum Kufuor and the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) presidential aspirants was called off at the last minute with no explanations leaving the conveners stranded at the Castle. Indications of the cancellation were clearly written on the wall with some of the aspirants complaining that they had not been properly invited. Party sources told DAILY GUIDE that the meeting has been rescheduled for next Monday, by which time the anomalies would have been rectified. The meeting was convened by a Reconciliation Committee of the party as a follow-up to an earlier meeting with the aspirants where they bared their hearts out. However, the convenors of the meeting got to know about the cancellation of the function only when they arrived at the Castle. The members of the committee included Prof Daniel Adzei-Bekoe and Madam Amma Busia, Chairman and Member of the Council of State respectively; Nana Awuku, proprietor of Sanaa Lodge; Mr. Samuel Odoi-Sykes, former National Chairman and Peter Mac Manu, National Chairman. DAILY GUIDE learnt that SMS text messages were sent out to the aspirants, inviting them to the meeting with the President at the Castle while phone calls were put across to a few. With a hint that the meeting may turn out to be a fiasco, especially when some of the heavyweights were not ready to cut short their campaign tour, SMS text messages were sent out to cancel it. Some of the aspirants had made it a point not to attend the meeting, complaining about the mode of invitation. Others also complained about the venue, arguing that the choice of the Castle, the seat of government was misplaced. According to those who held that opinion, if it was a matter of discussing party issues then the party headquarters or a neutral place would have been okay. With the meeting already called off, the conveners, DAILY GUIDE learnt, retired to the office of the President to chart a way forward. A new date of Monday October 15 which happens to be a public holiday was fixed, by which time the heavyweights would have returned from their campaign trips. Some of the expected aspirants are Nana Akufo-Addo, former Foreign Affairs Minister who is now in the Volta Region; Yaw Osafo Maafo, former Minister of Education and Sports; Vice President Aliu Mahama who is indisposed, and Hackman Owusu-Agyemang, former Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing who returned to his Koforidua home after a successful launch of his presidential campaign in his Oyoko hometown. But just as those heavyweights return to Accra, others are leaving the city for other regions. DAILY GUIDE learnt that Dan Botwe, former General Secretary may not be available for the Monday meeting because he is leaving Accra for the Central and Western Regions, after which he would face the Ashanti and Brong Ahafo Regions in continuation of his campaign. Mr. Botwe told an Accra radio station that he was not aware of the aborted meeting. However, sources close to the former General Secretary told DAILY GUIDE that he only got an SMS text message from an unknown source which he did not put any premium on. At the brief meeting, the convenors put across the concerns of the aspirants regarding the meeting venue to the President, but this was instantly shot down. DAILY GUIDE learnt that the President, who was willing to meet the aspirants, insisted on holding the meeting at the Castle, saying that the same people have been coming to him in his office and therefore he does not see the reason why suddenly they are unwilling to do so. Some of the aspirants, DAILY GUIDE learnt, even suggested the Australia House where the committee met them one after the other. During the interaction with the committee, the aspirants harped on the nagging issue of presidential support for a particular aspirant. Even though for the umpteenth time President Kufuor denied the speculation that he has endorsed any aspirants, the presidential hopefuls insisted otherwise, stating that “some are more equal than others” as in George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’. One of the aspirants was not charitable, complaining bitterly about the inhibitions put in his way simply because he was not liked. He complained about alleged instructions given to DCEs not to host him when he visits the districts for campaign.