North Tongu Member of Parliament, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, says he never regretted coming out to defend the late former President, Prof. John Evans Fiifi Attah Mills.
The lawmaker says he wished he had even done more, especially if he knew the Professor’s demise was that imminent.
His comments come on the back of being tagged as a “baby with sharp teeth”, a statement made by former President Rawlings to describe young chaps in the NDC then who attacked critics of the then President.
Rejecting the assertion that he was part of the tag, Mr. Ablakwa said he performed his role as per the engagement of his appointment required, adding that he has never regretted defending a man as flawless as late President Mills.
“My job as Deputy Minister for Information was to fiercely and convincingly defend the track record of the Mills-Mahama administration. That was my job and those were my matching orders and that was why I was engaged, to be a spokesperson and when you’re a spokesperson, and you’re convinced about how well Prof. Mills is, how blessing he is to our country, he was not guilty of the accusations that were being leveled against him and I had to defend his track record as all Ministers of Information and Deputy Ministers of Information do so I have no regrets at all for defending such a good man,” he told Keminni Amanor on Hot Issues on TV3 Sunday, February 25, 2024.
He continued: “I wish I even did more. I wish I was even more out there, particularly if I even had the slightest idea that he will not be with us for that long. He’s such a great man. That’s why I named my son after him.”
Meanwhile, the legislator says the “babies with sharp teeth” tag was associated with him out of sheer propaganda since President Rawlings did not mention any names.
“We all know that our founder is very colourful, he had a way with words and all kinds of terminologies and jargons.
“The founder didn’t mention specific names. Again, propaganda; people decided to just select whoever they probably want to fit in that description but to be fair to the founder, he didn’t mention any specific name,” he objected.
On August 30, 2012, the NDC founder, after becoming inundated with verbal onslaughts on his character and person, stated “it is said that we should not throw out the baby with the bath water, but what do we do when some of the babies in the tub are babies with hard teeth, biting and spewing some very horrible invective?”
“Should they not be lowered out with the dirty water?
“After all, one bad nut is all it takes to spoil the taste in your mouth,” Former President Rawlings said at the NDC’s special delegates’ congress in Kumasi.
Meanwhile, a founding member of the NDC, Prof. Kwamena Ahwoi, had said he sanctioned and commissioned the “babies with sharp teeth” to defend then Professor Mills who nearly resigned as President due to the attacks that were being unleashed at him.
Prof. Ahwoi said he and Totobi-Quakye commissioned the acid tongues, naming “Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, then Deputy Minister of Information; Kojo Twum Boafo, Executive Director of Ghana Free Zones Board, who hopped from one radio station to another; Castle boy Nii Lantey Vanderpuye; Peter Boamah Otokunor; and the late lddrisu Bature of NDC AI-Haj” rag tag as the persons they trained to attack anybody that criticised Prof. Mills unjustifiably.
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