Limann should’ve been “wicked” to show “firmness” - Antwi-Danso

Dr Hilla Limann’s inability to have been a “wicked” leader was a major downside of his government, Senior Research Fellow at the Legon Centre for International Affairs and Diplomacy (LECIAD) at the University of Ghana, Dr Vladimir Antwi-Danso has said.

Antwi-Danso said Ghana’s only President of the third Republic could have had better circumstances in Office had he been a bit atrocious and ruthless while in power.

“Do I have any negative thing about the president? Maybe yes. My father told me that a leader at times must be wicked”, the USSR-trained academic told his audience when he delivered a lecture at a ceremony to mark the 35th anniversary of Limann’s swearing in.

Jerry Rawlings, then an army officer, overthrew Limann on December 31, 1981, after the late President had been sworn into office 27 months earlier on September 24, 1979.

Limann was seen as a soft lethargic leader who lacked firmness while in office.

Antwi-Danso believes Limann’s government could have seen better fortune, but for his foible–inability to have been stony-hearted and cold-blooded.

“You see, when you are wicked, they say you are firm. Everybody says a leader must be firm, be firm; it is a little wickedness. Limann didn’t know that. That’s the little negative side of the president”, the LECIAD Don observed.

“Check the world, from Stalin, through all those people you’ll have as heroes today; Castro, he killed his own very close friend. He just shot him bam bam! Because he’s a traitor. You’ll say he is a wicked man. It saved Cuba today. So at times, I think the president should have been able to hit some people’s heads a little, which he didn’t. That’s one negative thing I have about him”, Antwi-Danso said.