Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08ACCRA1360
2008-10-17 09:06:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Accra
Cable title:  

AMBASSADOR CALLS ON QOSITIOQANDIDATE

Tags:  PGOV PHUM PREF PREL PINR KDEM GH 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO9283
PP RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHAR #1360 2910906
ZNR UUUUU ZFD
P 170906Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY ACCRA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7129
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
UNCLAS ACCRA 001360 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR AF/W

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREF PREL PINR KDEM GH
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR CALLS ON QOSITIOQANDIDATE

UNCLAS ACCRA 001360

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR AF/W

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREF PREL PINR KDEM GH
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR CALLS ON QOSITIOQANDIDATE


1. (SBU) SUMMARY. Ambassador met with Prof. John Atta-Mills,
presidential candidate for the National Democratic Congess
(NDC),the major opposition party in Ghana's December 7
election. Atta-Mills spent much of the meeting vociferously
denouncing the campaign tactics of President John Kufuor and
his ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP). Ambassador stressed
the U.S. stance of neutrality in the electoral contest; the
importance of peaceful elections; the imperative that the
losing party, absent compelling evidence of fraud, accept the
decision of Ghanaian voters; the need for any challenge to
the results to be via the courts; and the promise that the
U.S. would continue to pursue its various assistance
programs, no matter which party triumphs, as long as the
election is deemed to be free and fair. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) Ambassador called on the NDC flag-bearer John
Atta-Mills October 16 at his campaign headquarters.
Atta-Mills wasted no time in attacking the ruling New
Patriotic Party (NPP),telling Ambassador that an unnamed NPP
source had provided a document to his party that proved NPP
collusion in rigging the voter registration process and laid
out similar plans to fix the election itself. Visibly
agitated, Atta-Mills quoted a "credible NPP source" as
blatantly asserting that "We know we will lose, but we will
steal the election." Atta-Mills promised to pass a copy of
the document to the embassy. (NOTE: We have not yet received
the document. END NOTE).


3. (U) Ambassador reassured AttaQlls of U.S. neutrality
regarding the election, stressing that the basis of the
bilateral relationship rested on fundamentals that transcend
the immQnt changQof governments on both sides of the
Atlantic. He told Atta-Mills that whichever party ascended
to power, America looked forward to continuing the special
relationship that had been built up over the course of the
past 50 years.


4. (U) Ambassador explained that he would be advising all
parties to accept the will of the Ghanaian people after the
election. While parties should reserve the right to legally
challenge the outcome, he said, in the Ghana context there
were no circumstances that would justify sending party
supporters out on the street as had happened in Kenya. He
told Atta-Mills that in the event of an NDC victory, he could
rely on the U.S. to live up to all of its agreements, from
MCC to security assistance to USAID programs and exchanges,
and added that he would expect the new government to continue
to support bilateral programs and other agreements put in
place by the previous regime. Conversely, he made it clear
that such assistance could be withheld in the face of power
grabbing or circumstances that brought the results of the
election into question.


5. (SBU) Atta-Mills responded that the NPP does its best to
impress people of its special relationship with the United
States. He repeated three times that despite honors that the
U.S. has bestowed upon Kufuor, "the man is no role model."
He then launched into an attack on Kufuor's abuse of
incumbency, failure to uphold the rule of law, selective
justice, cronyism, and raiding of government coffers. He
seemed especially stung by Kufuor's cQign remarks over the
weekend that questioned his fitness to lead and called a vote
for the NDC an "abomination."


6. (U) Atta-Mills closed thQmeetQon a conciliatory note,
saying that he and his party have never doubted the
neutrality of the American government, and despite some
inevitable policy differences, the party continues to see
America as a strong partner that has helped Ghana enormously
over the years.

















BROWN