Dr. Ekow Spio Garbrah today appeared before the Appointments Committee of Parliament and denied ever calling appointees of the late President Prof. Atta Mills team �B� players in an article.
The minister-designate for Trade and Industry, however called for cool heads to prevail when he appeared before the Appointments Committee of Parliament to be vetted.
Considered by his own party members as the number one enemy from within, the affable and knowledgeable politician took part of time to apologize to all government functionaries who felt hurt by the content of his published piece.
FLASHBACK...Pissing In
It was a season for political fire-power, as Dr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah returned the salvos shot at him by a National Democratic Congress (NDC) stalwart, Ato Ahwoi, signaling what was set to be an abrasive give-and-take affair.
With the battle lines drawn, the communications expert and NDC Vice Chairman-aspirant fired back, virtually saying that he was ready to piss on the government as suggested by Ato Ahwoi.
�My NDC brother, if President Mills does not appoint you as a minister, please continue to piss in as many times as you want!� Mr Ahwoi reportedly said.
The frosty relationship between the NDC and Spio-Garbrah then took a further dip, after he was summoned by the party�s leadership to face a disciplinary committee.
The twist widened the schism between the then pro-Rawlings camp to which Spio belonged, and the pro-Mills camp- a degeneration which was evidenced by the vitriolic exchanges.
The summons was contained in a formal letter signed by party General Secretary Johnson Asiedu Nketiah headlined, �Breach Of Party Code Of Conduct And Disciplinary Code�.
The letter asked that Spio holds himself in readiness for an invitation by the National Disciplinary Committee of the party to assist in investigations into the breach. Dated 29/10/09, the letter was addressed to Dr. Spio-Garbrah at an Asylum Down address referenced NDC/HQ/14/01/373.
According to the letter, Spio�s article in the Daily Graphic titled, �Honouring Nkrumah�s Legacy: A Challenge�, was a breach of the party�s code of conduct and disciplinary code.
�The purpose of this letter is to inform you to hold yourself in readiness for any invitation the Committee may decide to extend to you to assist in their investigations,� the letter stated.
But when it became apparent that there was not going to be any meeting between him and the party leadership towards resolving the feud, Spio organized a press conference and stated that he would not allow himself to be driven away by a group of persons in the party.
He saw the unfolding developments as part of a grand design to, as it were, frustrate him out of the party.
In the said Spio-authored article in the Graphic, the subject of the aggravated division, the failed NDC flagbearer aspirant in the 2008 polls pointed at a number of anomalies in the Mills� government.
Although the article was in commemoration of the centenary of the first President, the late Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the bite concerned what, for him, were avoidable blunders in the ruling NDC. He for instance frowned at the choice of appointees from a Team �B� when Team �A� materials were sitting on the bench.
This was in reference to an abysmal performance by the government ministers because of inexperience. His reprimand of the government communications machinery appeared to have hit the President�s Director of Communications, Koku Anyidoho, when he in response, described Spio as a nobody whose performance, when he was Ghana�s envoy to the US, was not a secret at the mission in Washington.
He did not stop there but poured so much scorn such as �Spio holds a cheap PhD� and �Spio my foot�; and at a point, the party leadership had to pull the brakes on the fractious exchanges. Before this, Ato Ahwoi had fired a written response to the Graphic treatise, describing it as an act of pissing into the party.
He asked Spio to review his method of seeking remedies if he really wanted to be considered as a presidential candidate, adding that as for getting appointment under a Mills� government; that was not feasible.
�How could Mills appoint someone who spread rumours about his ailment?� Ato Ahwoi asked rhetorically.
Spio lost to President Mills in the 2006 presidential primary of the NDC in an exercise preceding the 2008 polls. Mr. Ahwoi, a leading figure in the Mills camp, thus considered Spio as being frustrated because of his failure to land a cabinet position in the government.
VETTING
However, when he appeared before the PAC, Spio-Garbrah maintained that he was simply re-echoing the views of the general public to government.
He added that his remarks were deliberately or genuinely distorted or misunderstood.
The former Ambassador explained that he has "apologized on numerous platforms to many of my colleagues [minister] who might have misunderstood it�.
�I was reporting on what I have heard on radio about some members referring to ministers as Team A and Team B.
�If one were reading this article carefully you�ll reach the conclusion that Ekow Spio Garbrah has not said that all members of the government are Team A or Team B; neither has he said that any member of the government was Team A or Team B,� he clarified.
Source: Chris Joe Quaicoe/Peacefmonline.com email:[email protected]
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