Obed Asamoah congratulates Valerie Sawyerr for criticising Rawlings

A former national chairman of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dr Obed Yao Asamoah has congratulated former deputy Chief of Staff Dr Valerie Sawyerr for criticising former President and founder of the NDC, Jerry John Rawlings.

He said it is time people in the party voice out their minds to the former President.

According to him, he has since sent a personal congratulatory message to Dr Sawyerr for speaking.

He said "Infact, I congratulated her, I sent a text message congratulating her for speaking her mind. I think it is very good for the party and good for the country. People should speak up their minds, they shouldn’t be intimidated by anybody or terrorised by anybody. She's spoken her mind and she is entitled to do so."

The former national chairman speaking in an interview on Accra-based Joy FM, said he was not surprised about the article Dr Valerie wrote criticising and condemning Mr Rawlings.

Valerie Sawyerr reacting to a publication on the recent happenings in the NDC, she asked why Rawlings has remained silent on the corruptions under the government of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

In a statement, she wrote "They say he booms … I say he buzzes … like an agitated mosquito … looking for his next victim. Again, he heads for other Heads of State … describing their governance as riddled with corruption. Is he trying to say that his reign was unblemished or that his twin brother’s (President Akufo-Addo) reign is unsullied? Really?"

Dr Asamoah speaking on the article by the deputy Chief of Staff, he said "maybe the language maybe kind of flowery in places, but the point she is making is that he [Rawlings] is attacking everybody and he falls out with everybody including people he has worked closely with and that is what she is criticising and I think she's got a point there.

"People must be used to criticism, that is the whole thing, why should the party’s division be wider or deepened just because somebody has spoken her mind, I really don’t understand that, people should be tolerant and begin to accept the right of people to express their opinion freely, so I really don't see what she has said is going to make matters worse than they are already. What we have to do is all of us to develop a good spirit of cooperation and harmony and the party goes on."

Click to read her full article here: Dr Valerie Sawyerr criticises Rawlings