In our previous discussions, we narrated how Jerry John Rawlings could not have betrayed Dr Obed Asamoah because, as we demonstrated, Rawlings was very sincere, but got entangled in machinations beyond his control. Obed, however, still thinks otherwise. Meanwhile, Professor Mills has not been left out of Dr. Asamoah's ‘vengeance.' Hear him: "Professor Mills' attempt to convince me on why he rejected my nomination smacks of hypocrisy. I worked under him as Foreign Minister at the time he was the Vice President, and we had cordial and excellent relations. Why is he now saying because I am his former lecturer, he is unable to work with me? He was only being hypocritical. " Obed seems not to understand the position taken by Professor Mills not wanting to contest the elections with him as a running mate. Mills' concerns then were, to some degree, realistic and genuine. in spite of the claims by Asamoah that, as Foreign Minister he had cordial and healthy working relations with Mills as Vice-President, the fact of the matter was that he Asamoah as a minister was more powerful than Vice President Mills' in the Jerry Rawlings' administration between 1997 and January 2001. And he did attest to this in his interview with Adakabre when he said: "The National Democratic Congress (NDC) was formed largely through the ideals of some of us". As if to prove that point, Dr. Asamoah boastfully added: "I was virtually in charge of 'everything' in the party, even though there were officials who occupied the various positions." He went ahead to reveal: "Jerry John Rawlings and some elements within the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) were not in favour of forming a party to contest the up-coming elections ". According to Dr. Asamoah, whiles Rawlings and his 'cohorts' thought the PNDC should just simply 'leave' the scene for the politicians, he Obed and those who favoured the formation of a political party within the PNDC administration, believed there was the need to preserve the ideals of the revolution, hence, the existence of National Democratic Congress as a registered political party today. One reason Mills believed it would be difficult for him in the event of he becoming President and 'ordering' him Obed around was the fact that, he Obed was very instrumental in his selection as Vice Presidential Candidate to Jerry John Rawlings in 1996. Yet, Obed deliberately or seems oblivious of or better still, unconcerned about these factors and has since vowed at all costs to pay Mills back. Asamoah's vendetta against Professor Mills began immediately the NDC lost the 2000 elections to J.A. Kiifour and the New Patriotic Party. (NPP) As we are told earlier, Asamoah Co-Chaired the party's finance committee with Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings. So much party resources entrusted to the Obed-led finance committee were not properly accounted for, according to the Rawlingses. Obed has though denied this charge. Whiles Obed Assamoah continued to blame Rawlings, Konadu and Professor Mills for him not becoming a Vice-President, Rawlings on the other hand had an axe to grind with Obed for what he termed 'stashing' of campaign funds. The two therefore were in tango over control of the party after 2000. The strategism in Obed became manifest here, as Rawlings' partisan political naivety was exposed. When the NDC handed over power to then President Kufour and the New Patriotic Party, rank and file including government functionaries of the NDC were much disillusioned about the lost and petrified by the Kufour administration's 'clampdown.' It took the courage of people like Dr. Obed Asamoah, Alhaji Mahama Iddrisu and, to some extent, members of the NDC Youth Forum to breathe some life and reinvigorate the party countrywide. Whiles the Youth Forum were the only 'visibly notice' of the party, especially in Accra, Obed and Alhaji embarked on a nationwide 'resuscitating' and re-organizational exercise. This bore fruits as the NDC by 2002 has bounced back with the holding of its first national delegates conference since losing power at the Trade Fair site. As usual, the Obed and Jerry Rawlings 'war' for the control of turf was put to its severest test. Asamoah as leader of the reorganization team wanted a major amendment to the party's constitution for a single Chairmanship, as against the then prevailing Co-Chair which was favoured by Jerry Rawlings and Alhaji Mahama Iddrisu. Obed also wanted to be the new party Chairman with stronger powers as against Rawlings, whose preferred candidate for the position of Chairman was Alhaji Mahama Iddrisu. Asamoah's dexterity as a political strategist held sway, as his group routed the Rawlings 'faction' in the vote for the amendment for a single chair. The overwhelming endorsement for the single chair infuriated the Rawlings group so much so that they never stayed back to vote in the subsequent and substantive Chairmanship position. This resulted in their candidate, Alhaji Mahama Iddrisu's narrow defeat by Obed Asamoah by just two votes. If Rawlings, Nana Konadu, Tony Aidoo and about four others had stayed and voted, the result would have favoured the Alhaji. The outcome of the NDC congress brought the 'cold' war between abed and Rawlings for the first time to the fore. Having been emboldened by the results he got from the congress, Obed deployed his arsenals in furtherance of his quest to 'punish' Professor Mills, by denying him his aspirations of becoming President of Ghana. In our next edition, we shall examine in details what exactly abed did from 2001 until his exit from the NDC after a violent congress in Koforidua. We shall also do an in-depth introspection on the conduct of Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings in the party affairs. Credit: Bilingual Free Press