How Rawlings Campaigned Against His Wife

And Caused Her “Defeat”.

In an article written by one Kwesi Adu on the front page of ‘’The Insight ‘’ entitled ‘’ RAWLINGS And The Impossible Expectations, on the Wednesday 11th _ Thursday 12th April 2012He made some interesting revelations about the calls on Mills from sections of the NDC and some chiefs for the president to do everything possible to reconcile with ex –president Rawlings .The writer added that it was not President Mills who fell out with Jerry Rawlings , rather it was the ex-president who decided to pitch his camp against the new president just two weeks after his inauguration. What was the reason for that? Rawlings and his wife were angry that the just installed president was NOT appointing Rawlings’ nominees into ministerial positions and further stated that even before the 2008 general election, ex-president Rawlings had tried to arrogate to himself the power to choose a vice-presidential candidate and impose that person upon the then candidate Mills and even conducted a selection interview in pursuance of that and came up with Mrs. Betty Bould Iddrisu. Therefore when candidate Mills came up with John Mahama for vice president, the Rawlinses became so angry that Mrs. Rawlings snarled that they,( the Rawlingses) would no longer treat Mills with ‘’kids’’ gloves. Dear reader, the above is exactly what I read on page 3 of the weekly insight’’. If the above allegations are really true, then let me refer readers to cast their minds back to 1996 when Cadres struggled to succeed Rawlings with Goosie Tannoh as promised by Rawlings himself. We, the members of the Reform Movement stated this: The philosophy of the NDC is flavoured with paternalism because the NDC is being run as a personal fiefdom. President Rawlings, with political gravity and splendid patriarchal figure in the NDC proposed Professor Mills candidacy at the Swedru Declaration to pilot the NDC ship for the year 2000. No question, No contest, No noise. Therefore, the position was being challenged by the Reform Group, because we described the behavior of Rawlings in 1996 as an obdurate Nabuchadnasarian leadership which has found itself in Ghana politics. The action of the Reform Group eventuated in the convulsions and wranglings in the NDC. We further wanted to build permanent party structures in which members would feel a sense of belonging and have a say in whatever decision we take and not the kind of structures that would use people for campaigns and DUMP THEM after the election. We boldly told Rawlings that if his proposition CAN NOT BE CHALLENGED, there could not be any democracy in the party when the people cease to participate to have a place under the sun –then all of them will wither in the darkness of decadence. All of the people will become MUTE DEMORALISED LOST SOULS. As cadres, we believe that the best security for the revolution lies in constant correction of abuses and making needed improvement because it is the neglect of timely repair that makes rebuilding necessary. Jerry Rawlings described the Reform Movement members as political parvenus, and his wife- Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings distanced herself from the Reform Movement and accused them of using mis-information to mislead PEOPLE and win SUPPORT TO ACHIEVE THEIR SELFISH OBJECTIVES. Cadres were never treated with kids gloves by the Rawlingses at all in1999. President Rawlings decided to PUMMEL the Reform Movement into submission by using the BNI operatives and The Military Intelligence (MI) and when a Reform member was arrested, they would simply dump you in a BNI dark cell or military guardroom and forget about you . Even though you will be well fed any way, you will never know the difference between DAY AND NIGHT and will never know what is happening in the political arena. No newspapers, No radio, I mean you hear nothing. It was drastic punishment meted out by Rawlings on his own cadres for daring to challenge him on his choice of Mills as his successor in 1996. When the cadres finally pushed the back of Rawlings against the wall in 1999, juicy ambassadorial postings had been offered some of the Reform cadres and they turned them down. Did Rawlings know that cadres are capable of occupying important positions and yet he started dumping them in BNI cells and military guardrooms? By 1999, President Rawlings had driven a huge nail in the coffin of the NDC which lacked democratic discipline and participatory democracy. The Reform Movement stated un – equivocally what they stood for, but the NDC and the Rawlingses felt that the Reform Movement was getting slightly uppity. Today, if Jerry Rawlings is telling Ghanaians and NDC members that HIS CHOICE OF Mills was a mistake – who takes the blame – the CADRES OR RAWLINGS? Under Rawlings government in 1996, the grass root were as disillusioned as they are today under Mills 3 year old government but NO ONE COULD COUGH EXCEPT THE BOLD CADRES including this writer. After all, who born dog? As the then District Organizer of the erstwhile ACDR’S, I had to avoid the prying eyes of the dreaded Military Intelligence and BNI chaps who operates from different angles as well as in very unsuspicious ways-Man, they are very dread so never pray to be on their wanted list at all, because they have wide lenses. Today, the NDC is so divided in the various constituencies and branches that it will be difficult and will be a miracle to beat the NPP if proper reconciliation is not done quickly as contained in the letter written by the National Chairman of the NDC to the President and Leader of the party. The Rawlingses must rather think about that and stop shedding crocodile tears over their alleged maltreatment by President Mills.





NANA KONADU’s “DEFEAT”.


As President Mills was busy performing his constitutional duties by constructing roads, building schools under trees, providing good drinking water to the people of Ghana, Jerry Rawlings was seriously campaigning indirectly to make him unpopular and then replace him with his wife at the National Delegates Congress which was two clear years away. So we had the newspaper headlines which read thus:(1)Mills is a Konongo kaya – JJ.Rawlings (2)I will not go to war with cowards (3) Mills has appointed Team B’’players , while Team ‘A’ players are sitting idle on the bench (4) Mills government is corrupt.(5)We will take back NDC among several negative comments poured on a man he single handed anointed to succeed him because Mills is very honest and corrupt after dumping several cadres who dissented in 1999 in the dark cells of the BNI and Military guardrooms . Then in 2011, we saw several posters of no other person than Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings and the former first lady. The whole government machinery, most cadres and well meaning Ghanaian shouted ‘’OYIWA: So Rawlings has been campaigning indirectly against Mills in order to REPLACE him at the NDC national delegates’ congress with his wife? So when his wife picked her nomination forms very boldly- there was already a fertile ground for Mills to get sympathy votes because of he utterances and general behavior of her husband , Rawlings towards Mills – the contest came on 9th July 2011 and Mills was endorsed to lead the NDC in 2012 . Therefore it was a victory for the NDC and not Mills, so why the frosty relations now.

How The Team “B” Players Dribbled And Dodged The Rawlingses


The regional ministers and MMDCE’s did very well in avoiding and Dodging Mrs. Rawlings on her campaign trail towards the Sunyani congress – in fact who will become so FOOLISH ENOUGH to welcome somebody who wanted to UNSEAT HIS BOSS in a third world country like Ghana . Mr. Kofi Adams, you would have dodged Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings very well, if you were a regional minister or a DCE. This writer would have done the same thing in order to protect my job if I was an appointee – so there is no big deal about that. Reconciliation between Mills and Rawlings is a MUST, even though Rawlings started it all – we cannot sit down as cadres and allow the NDC to be torn apart for Nana Akuffo Addo to win in 2012 without sweat – we either swim or sink together. The Rawlingses must rise to the challenge of national survival, because there are two halls of Fame and Shame for them to choose from and thousands of the remaining surviving cadres including this writer does not believe that they will choose Shame instead of Fame. It was THE MOUTH of Rawlings that RIGGED the elections at Sunyani if only some rigging took place and not Mills. Is anybody listening? I am done. Aluta continua!

_____________________


Clement Sangaparee


United Cadres Front


C/o box 32

Obuasi


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E-Mail: clementsang@yahoo.com