Ok I figured out the problem. If I spawn the mobs parented to the panel then they appear on the game screen. Which leaves one last problem how to get the instantiated object to spawn in the correct spot.
The prefabs transform is (275,-75,0) and yet when it appears on screen the objects the Objects Transform is (0,0,0). I even tried to change it after the fact and it doesn't do anything.
NGUITools.AddChild (panel.gameObject, mobFollower);
spawnedMobs.Add (GameObject.FindWithTag ("follower"));
GameObject.FindWithTag ("follower").transform.position = MOB1_POS;
I even tried it using the translate function
NGUITools.AddChild (panel.gameObject, mobFollower);
spawnedMobs.Add (GameObject.FindWithTag ("follower"));
GameObject.FindWithTag ("follower").transform.Translate (MOB1_POS)