The Herald Editor: Ras Mubarak Is An “Opportunist Grade 1”

The Managing Editor of the Herald newspaper, Larry A. Dogbe has described Ras Mubarak, the 2012 Parliamentary candidate for Ablekuma North of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) as an “opportunist grade 1” because he is just exploiting the ruling party.

Larry A. Dogbe expressed doubts about the allegiance of the NDC self-acclaimed Communicator.

According to him, Ras Mubarak who until 2009 was unknown to the party has grown wings and flaunting himself as though he is for the party.

The newspaper editor clashed with the NDC stalwart on Radio Gold last Friday over reports that Ras Mubarak is leaving mainstream politics to pursue a different career.

The Herald newspaper on April 5, 2013 published some comments Ras made on his facebook page which read that he was “leaving front-line politics. Spending more time with family and focusing on academics. Always been my dream to be a University Lecturer. This is the time to build myself up for that."

The paper also captured him stating that he launched an “ill-motivated attack on this newspaper” over the publication, therefore calling it “mischievous and a joke meant to incite hatred against his person.”

In the publication, Ras Mubarak was also quoted to have resorted to damage control when his first comments on the social media platform enthralled some people who took keen interest in his remarks and so, mocked him for evidently chickening out of the political race.

"On Sunday 31, 2013 a day after he posted his decision to quit politics, he explained to his opponents who made mockery of his decision, saying “Let me see if I can help some of our friends who have difficulty understanding simple Language.

1. You don’t have to be on Radio or TV to be an NDC member. You don’t have to be loud to be noticed.

“There millions of NDC sympathizers and members who are doing their thing on the quiet. It’s important to get that right.

2. Politics to me is a sport. If you play football and you are tired you rest.

3. Like Nana Agyeman aptly mentioned, since when did it become a crime to leave front-line politics for the pursuit of other ambitions?" the paper quoted.

Though Ras Mubarak after the publication issued a statement explaining the purport of his comments and also questioned the integrity of the newspaper, the editor seems not to be satisfied with his rejoinder and therefore sought to reveal the true colours of the NDC defeated Parliamentary candidate.

He disclosed that Ras after joining the Friends of Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings (FONKAR), a group which pledged support for the Rawlingses, and rained insults on the late former President John Evans Atta Mills later made a U-turn and “sneaked into Castle to beg” him for an opportunity to contest the Parliamentary seat at Ablekuma North.

He also accused him of stealing some “donations” during Professor Mills’ funeral when he wangled his way into the Funeral Committee which was tasked with an oversight responsibility to organize the funeral rites.

Mr. Dogbe, who was apparently disappointed in Ras Mubarak’s character, could not help but utter these strong-worded messages to him; “If indeed, you are for the NDC. If indeed you are for a political party. This is a man who claims he won the election and was holding the whole country to ransom, only for us to discover that he did not win after all. Ras Mubarak…after he went to the Castle and begged Professor Mills, he came out saying that he has never been part of the FONKAR…Now, Professor Mills dies and then, you the man who had called the man an evil, called him a corrupt man, a weak leader; all manner of names, you graciously walked into a committee which was supposed to ensure the man’s funeral.”

“If I were him and I know Professor Mills as a bad man. I know Professor Mills as a demon. I wouldn’t be part of a burial. At best, I would even stay away from the corpse. That is an indictment. This guy is a stomach politician.”

He therefore wondered why Ras “want to draw so much importance to himself”, if indeed he is a gallant politician and a loyal member of the ruling party.

When Peacefmonline.com contacted Ras Mubarak to ascertain the veracity of the allegation of theft levelled against him; he declined to give an answer, and only responded that he “wouldn’t even respond to it…I wouldn’t even respond to it.”

He however vehemently denied the claims that he was a FONKAR member, stating categorically that “time and again, I’ve made it clear. I’ve never been a member of FONKAR. I’ve never sat in any FONKAR meeting.”

 
Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana