By Dr. Michael J.K.
Bokor
Saturday, August 12, 2017
We want to say at this point that all that
Rawlings has been doing since he left office and
within the context of his being banned by the 1992
Constitution from returning to that office is
nothing to be proud of. It is simply steeped in a
misplaced agenda by him and his wife to create the
stinking impression that without them Ghana cannot
be.
They are deceived. Gradually, age is telling on
them. And for Rawlings particularly, health issues
matter. He has already disclosed that he has heart
problems even as he pursues a legal case against
Africa Watch for saying that he has the Parkinson’s
disease. That is his own cup of tea.
Now, let us be more blunt. Whatever is happening
at the NDC front is only an exercise in jaw-jawing,
which is good for the party. I can infer from the
mood and tone of the Rawlings critics that they mean
business to cut Rawlings to size. I support them as
I have no doubt they will succeed in proving to
Rawlings that the NDC is bigger than he is.
No matter how he sees things, the NDC is a
political party that is made up of people who know
what politicking in our time entails. They may be
quick to disagree with the draconian measures used
by Rawlings to attempt solving problems for a good
reason. After all, despite all those measures, what
is Ghana today?
What exactly did those draconian measures put in
place to prevent recurrence of such vices,
especially bribery and corruption (for which
Rawlings presided over the execution of former
military leaders and others)? Or about sanitation
(for which Rawlings is now Akufo-Addo’s ambassador)?
Horrible!! Nothing has changed. No lesson has been
learnt from all that Rawlings sought to do to clean
the stables. So, why should he still remain what he
was in the late 1970s as if time is hung on a hook?
Or as if nothing good can happen in Ghana unless
Rawlings and his wife wish it so?
Folks, I insist that happenings in the NDC are
only mere scratches that will not turn the party
upside down. At most, it will energize more open and
vociferous exchanges, which I expect to be the rule
rather than the exception. It appears to be a means
for venting pent-up feelings and to confront
Rawlings in open public discourse. For far too long,
he has had too much sway and stranglehold on
affairs. Now that he is being boldly confronted, I
hope what has been hidden all these years will be
spilt for us to see what is what.
That is why I like what Dr. Valerie Sawyer (a
former Deputy Chief of Staff under Rawlings) has
spilt about Rawlings---accusing him of being corrupt
and being a mosquito buzzing all over the place to
bite those it targets. Such a mosquito has its 10
days to exist.
And also what has come from Dr. Asamoah that
suggests that Rawlings sees himself as “a saint” and
all others as devils. That’s a powerful
characterization, particularly, if we recognize Dr.
Asamoah as one of the early adherents of the
Rawlings movement that shunned their traditional
political allegiances to move forward whatever
Rawlings brought about. Such people have hordes of
ideas to tap into.
Where are we now? We are where we want to say
that whatever is happening in the NDC is natural and
shouldn’t be portrayed as disastrous for the party.
I see it as a good opportunity for ventilation.
After all, once the NDC knows that it can do without
being strangled by the Rawlingses, it should move
ahead. And it still enjoys massive support. Whatever
made it weak at Election 2016 should provide the
opportunity for rebuilding for the future, not for
succumbing to petty bad-mouthing by those already
known as doomsday prophets.
Folks, there is much on the table; but I will
end it here, hoping that we can move on from
whatever we have been given to know now about the
exchanges.
Probably, we may want to think more deeply about
Dr. Valerie Sawyer’s huge allegation against
Rawlings that he is corrupt. If that allegation is
anything to go by, we must view it against the
background that Dr. Sawyer was a Deputy Chief of
Staff under Mills/Mahama. What does she know that
she can spill for us to add to the Abacha largesse
for no work done to Nigeria or the divesting of the
Nsawam Cannery to Nana Konadu Agyemang-Rawlings?
Anything more to be revealed?
Those now speaking pointedly against Rawlings
and whatever else there is are right to do so just
as Rawlings is in taking his personal attacks
wherever he has done all this while. I see nothing
wrong about happenings. All I see is the atmosphere
in which those with pent-up feelings are letting
everything "flow". What is wrong about that? In any
case, who am I to attempt making peace among those
who have one grudge or the other against each other?
In any case, I am no part of their "grudge
business".
Let them talk and talk more about
what they have been harbouring all along. Then, we
(outsiders/onlookers) can get to know more than we
do now. Eventually, those talking now should be the
first to position themselves for peace-making. Are
they willing to do so?
Truly, the NDC can survive without such
nail-biting moments given it by the Rawlingses. And
the more the party can stand on its own without the
attempt by the Rawlingses to strangulate it, the
better chances are that it can purge itself of the
past that has empowered its opponents to continue
painting it Black. Let the exchanges continue; we
are enjoying them!!
I shall return.
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