Comrade Jerry John Rawlings left a void that may never be filled soon – Three years on

Comrade Jerry John Rawlings, it is already three years since your departure from the earthly Ghanaian and world political scene, but it already looks like decades to comrades committed to your ideals and practical vision for our dear country. Every day things are getting worse.

I wish you were in a position to predict when things will get better for the people of Ghana you so loved, laid down your life for, and fought relentlessly to emancipate from the yoke of political, social, and economic neo-colonialism. The 1992 Constitution you bequeathed to Ghana has been raped and defiled beyond recognition by the fraternity of all the professional political and middle-class elites. Ghana has become in the words of Chinua Achebe, “a cesspool of corruption and misrule”, overseen by a state-sponsored Special Prosecutor.

The citizens of Garu, Wa, Ashaiman, and others who have been brutalized and robbed under direct Government sponsorship are crying for you and hoping your spirit will direct a redemption for these woes of the times we live in this country.

Comrade Rawlings, can you imagine that even a Deputy Majority Leader can override an invitation by Parliament for a Minister of National Security to appear before it to justify unconstitutional conduct by the Government? Yes, that is happening in Ghana today with all Ghanaians afraid to challenge

the illegality and unconstitutionality.

Even articles criticizing the regime do not see the light of day in some media outlets on grounds of pervasive corruption.

Incidentally, the shock at once, is that the Speaker of Parliament was one of the early Members of Parliament in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) under our first NDC Government who would not have dared disregard the suffering of ordinary brutalized Ghanaians when you were alive. The fact that you would have spoken up was enough to instill sanity into the body politic.

Comrade Rawlings, your demise has created a vacuum in cadre mobilization, action, and leadership. I have been waiting day after day for your foundation, the Rawlings Foundation, to be a galvanizing point for mobilization to continue your legacy of ensuring real probity, transparency, and accountability of Government and the greedy political elite for our people.

Alas! It is taking too long to materialize. Comrade Rawlings, I am waiting for your dear wife to actualize your foundation, so that at least we can have a J. J. Rawlings Lectures on the anniversary of your demise. I pray this happens soon.

The traitors who used their acquaintance and friendship with you while you lived to project and create political acceptance amongst your followers are still planning to obliterate your name in the NDC you founded and remain the founder. The takeover plot of the NDC by the traitors has intensified using surrogates after your journey to our ancestors. While we live, we shall continue to fight to bear the torch you lit to emancipate Ghana and Africa.

Surely Jerry John Rawlings you were an honest leader of integrity and a hard taskmaster, but you were also very tolerant and magnanimous. Comrade, you drew the best from us, your comrades, and compatriots each of whom was proud to serve you to the utmost capacity.

Comrade Jerry John Rawlings, I salute you and you will continue to live in our hearts amidst the culture of silence in Ghana today. Every day I look beyond the horizon and wonder, when will salvation come to Ghanaians again under the 1992 Constitution you birthed?

Say hi to Arikpo (GP. Captain Richard Forjeo (rtd.)), who followed you to eternity at the beginning of 2022.

You are deeply missed and most fondly remembered.