Kofi Wayo: Rawlings Is Gambling Away His Life

Maverick politician and Leader of the defunct United Renaissance Party (URP), “Chuck” Kofi Wayo believes ex-president Rawlings is gambling away his future and any modicum of respect he has left at the Casinos, by his apparent endorsement of his wife’s presidential ambition.

He said instead of the former president keeping a low profile after the expiration of his tenure in office, he has rather chosen to gamble away his future in casinos, by pushing his wife to contest as flagbearer of the ruling National Democratic Congress.

“If I were him, I will keep quiet until my dying days, but he wants to gamble that away in the casinos. I know it is former President Rawlings who wants to rule again and not his wife Konadu. He is the brain behind her (Nana Konadu's) ambition,” he said.

Speaking in an interview with Radio Gold’s Alhassan Suhini, on the station’s Gold Newspaper Review programme, the brash-talking politician opined that even though the former President performed creditably during his tenure in office, some acts of omission and commission on his (Mr. Rawlings) part blighted all the good work he did as President.

He accused the former President of plundering away State resources by superintending over the divestiture of more than half of government-owned enterprises established by Ghana's first president, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, and therefore wondered why Mr. Rawlings wants to rule the country again through his wife, Nana Konadu. Vowing to resist any subversive attempts at destabilizing the State, Kofi Wayo said if the former First Lady truly desires to be President, she should have impressed on her husband not to sell off state assets.

“We have to accept that former President Rawlings helped the country to some extent. However, he didn’t do it all. He sold most of the properties…If his intention is to bring a coup into this country again, then he has another thing coming. We now know better and are well prepared to die for the country, in the quest of defending our democracy,” he said.

He commended the NDC for the level of maturity it has shown so far regarding its upcoming presidential primaries, saying the decision to allow Mrs Rawlings to contest President Mills will go a long way to deepen democracy in the party. To him, it is not an abomination, but a healthy development and believes it will rather bind members of the party together and not separate them. “Ghanaians should be proud that the NDC has made history by allowing an incumbent government to be contested by his own party member. It has never happened in any country. This cannot happen in the New Patriotic Party (NPP). No one dare contest or challenge former President John Agyekum Kufuor. Also, former President Rawlings when he was in power could not be challenged. You dare not. But President Mills is morally upright.

The question is, is President Mills prepared to fight back? I know he will overcome. I am behind him because he is morally upright,” he added.