Credible information gathered indicates that before leaving for his recent foreign trip, President Atta Mills sent members of the Council of Elders of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) to the party’s founder and former President, Jerry John Rawlings, to pacify him.

The outcome of the meeting is what has left NDC gurus wondering whether there is room for party unity since Mr Rawlings did not show any interest in their proposal.

The group, which included party stalwarts like former Minister of Health under the Jerry Rawlings regime, Dr Mrs Mary Grant, Alhaji Issifu Ali and J.H Owusu Acheampong, a member of the Council of State and Mills campaign co-ordinator, met Mr Rawlings at his Ridge office.

It appeared not to be a usual Council of Elders’ meeting since this time around, Mr Rawlings was said to have had cause to invite his wife, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, to sit in it even before they could tell him of their mission.

After exchanging greetings and pleasantries, they were said to have gone straight into the meeting with their mission cut out and simple; to not only get Mr Rawlings to agree to a unity and reconciliatory talk but to also end his spirited attacks on incumbent President Mills and rather direct his attacks on the opposition.

They also spoke on a wide range of issues about developments in the party which they thought could affect its fortunes in the 2012 elections.

Mr Rawlings and his wife were said to have kept quiet throughout the meeting whilst listening to whatever message they had for him.

After listening to whatever they had to say, the NDC founder was said to have risen up to his feet and declined to make any comment.

The only thing he did, according to sources, was to express extreme surprise at their concerns since it appeared as though they were entirely ignorant about ongoing events in the party.

Dr Mary Grant was said to have expressed the wish that President Mills were in that meeting.

That notwithstanding, members of the Council of Elders left the meeting disappointed since they did not know what message to take to the President and national executives of the party who were anxiously waiting to know the outcome of the meeting.

President Mills promised to unite the NDC after being declared winner of the party’s presidential primary held in Sunyani.

But months down the line, party insiders say very little or virtually nothing has been done in that regard.

He completely severed communication links with the party founder and when he finally made up his mind to talk to Mr Rawlings, DAILY GUIDE learnt he started with his early morning calls, with nothing to say except “how are you?”

The issue about the unity of the NDC keeps degenerating each passing day, with members of both sides of the divide (the Konadu and the Mills camps) trading accusations and counter-accusations.

This is what has compelled party youth activist, SaCut Amenga Etego, to state in an article that “we the grassroots supporters of the NDC don’t want any more promises from the leadership, neither do we want assurances.

“I stood right in front of him (President Mills) on that Coronation Park and heard him loud and clear admit that without unity of purpose in the NDC, and without the active contribution of everyone- big or small- the ultimate goal of retaining power will elude the party.”

Though Mills promised to ensure the building of bridges and to converge the divergent opinions of the various splinter groups and schools of thought that had emerged to propose different approaches to sustaining power for the NDC, SaCut said, “not surprisingly, that promise has remained empty words, and the cracks within the party may have even deepened further.

“Undoubtedly, President Mills must take ultimate responsibility, and this is something that the mass and disillusioned supporters are very much aware of, and have begun to seize the opportunity to register their disdain for this deliberate attempt to take the NDC back into opposition after holding power for only one-term,” he noted.

“This is just the beginning of the grassroots protests, and it may just be a warning signal to the ‘greedy bastards’ who may not have much time to take the right decisions to avert an imminent defeat in the next general elections.” The NDC youth activist said, “Whatever decision President Mills and his team may take regarding the way forward for this party, the outcome of such a decision is solely the responsibility of the president and his team of current leaders of the NDC and the youth of this party will not forgive them for wrong decisions and undesirable outcomes.”