Nana Konadu says will not contest 2012 presidential election

Former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, has abandoned her long-held ambition to contest the December 7 presidential election.

She has however, expressed her determination to mount a vigorous campaign to ensure that the 153 candidates who had been fielded by the National Democratic Party (NDP) to contest the parliamentary election won their respective seats.

In an exclusive interview with the Daily Graphic, Nana Konadu, who is the flag bearer of the NDP, said although she was confident of winning the case against the Electoral Commission (EC) in court, it was clear that she could not be included in the electoral process.

The NDP has gone to court to seek an order to compel the EC to include Nana Konadu’s name on the presidential ballot paper for the December polls following the decision by the EC to reject her nomination forms.

The Accra Fast Track High Court is yet to determine the case, but given the turn of events, the NDP may decide to discontinue the case.

Although she did not want to sound prophetic, Nana Konadu was hopeful that the parliamentary aspirants of the NDP were going to win their seats hands down, as they had better vision for their constituents.

Stating why she wanted to stand for the highest office of the land, Nana Konadu said she wanted to see the country change for the better where poor sanitary conditions would be a thing of the past and where hospitals would be available to save lives, especially that of mothers and children.

According to her, although the party was unable to launch its manifesto due to the hiccup that it suffered, its parliamentary aspirants were campaigning with snippets of what the document contains.

She said the NDP had a vision to transform Ghana into a state where corruption would be a thing of the past and people at the grassroots would feel part of the system.

Nana Konadu said the party had an objective to appeal to the youth and to empower the whole society to ensure that no one would be oppressed or feel oppressed.

Notwithstanding its failed attempt at giving the country a president with a vision that would transform the country into a development oriented one where “proper decentralization” would be promoted, she said the party would grow from strength to strength.

She was, however, of the hope that the electoral processes that had been adopted would be successful as it was imperative for the country to move forward.

The former First Lady, therefore, called on the EC to alleviate the fears of people as there were currently a lot of allegations concerning the biometric system.

She wished the country a safe election, saying that the EC should work hard at ensuring that the level of disparities would be minimised, adding that “peaceful election comes about when there is a balance between the governors and the governed.”

Source: Daily Graphic