Once again, former president Rawlings woke up in the morning, looked in the mirror, and what he saw, he decided to call others. For someone who has run a country for two decades and should be privy to factual and statistical pieces of information, it is remarkably curious that not once has Rawlings pinpointed exactly what he means when he make wild claims such as “those who destroyed” this country must be investigated. Ghana has now become a serious country, and as such, we need serious people offering serious and constructive criticism. No longer should slogans suffice.
In a speech at the Thanksgiving Service for the late Chiana Pio, Pe Rowland Adiali Ayagitam, at Chiana on Tuesday, Rawlings said: "Freedom, without justice is like a kite with no rope to hold it. What we went through for those eight years was like being in hell. No one in his right senses wants to live in hell. So the question I ask is what are we doing in purgatory?” We at NPP-USA deem this the ranting of a hypocrite who has no factual and statistical basis for his baseless criticisms, and therefore, habitually resorts to cheap, applause-seeking one-liners. But since Rawlings is wont to call other administrations out, we find it necessary to compare and contrast the two preceding administrations.
On national destruction, it is noteworthy that when Rawlings shot his way back to power on December 31, 1981, Ghana’s currency, the Cedi was stable at 2.71 to one U S dollar. When he left on January 5, 2001, the Cedi was a free-falling 7,000 to one U S dollar for a 258,302% decline in value. When Kufuor left office on January 5, 2009, the Cedi stood at 12,589 to one U S dollar for a 79% decline. Note that it is easier to stabilize and already stable currency than it is to stabilize a declining one.
When Rawlings took the reigns, Ghana was the world’s leading producer and exporter of cocoa; when he left, we had dropped to number two behind Cote d’Ivoire. Pre-Rawlings Ghana had a high-flying Ghana Airways; when he left, the national carrier was so indebted (to the tune of $167 million) that it eventually went under. Pre-Rawlings Ghana was home to a vibrant looking people; when he left, we all had natural necklaces called “Rawlings Chain,” a starving condition that protruded our collar bones to form what looked like a necklace. Other economic statistics that paint an even more vivid picture of the destruction under Rawlings are hard to come by for curious reasons. But what we do know is that the picture got progressively better under the Kufuor administration.
For instance, while interest rates had jumped to 49% at the time Rawlings left office, Kufuor left president Mills with a 19% interest rate. Inflation went from 34% to 15% during Kufuor’s term. Rawlings left Kufuor with a nation that had enough money to last her for only three weeks; but when Kufuor left office, Ghana has enough reserves to last her for one and a half years. Kufuor met a nation that was $5.8 billion in debt, but left Mills with a national debt of only $2.9 billion.
But the stark differences between the Kufuor era accomplishments and the Rawlings era destruction go far beyond the numbers. Kufuor instituted the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to replace the cash-n-carry system that Rawlings dumped on us. Kufuor introduced the Free School Feeding Program for school children boosting enrollment by almost 50%. The National Youth Employment Program was introduced under President Kufuor’s tenure. After 19 years under Rawlings of toying with oil prospects in Ghana and wasting money of gambling and speculations, a Kufuor-led government created the conducive business environment that resulted in the discovery of oil in commercial quantities in Ghana. The list goes on and on….. and on.
When it comes to abuse of human rights, again how the most brutal of all our leaders since Independence can turn around and accuse others of the vice is simply shocking. Rawlings has more blood on his hands than any one individual in our entire history as a nation. We dare anyone or any party to refute this fact. It was the same Rawlings who lined up past heads of state and executed them for “destroying” the country without proving such accusations in a court of law. Then he turned around and caused more destruction than any other.
When three judges, including one nursing a baby, stood in his way, Rawlings had them burned to death. When Rawlings was criticized by his June 4thpartner Boakye Gyan from London for overthrowing a democratically elected government of Hilla Limann, Rawlings arrested and killed Boakye-Gyan’s brother for revenge. So brutal was Rawlings during his tenure as head of state that people looked over their shoulders before uttering unflattering comments about his government. Known patrons and contributors of opposing parties faced destruction of businesses. One completely build hotel was razed to the ground because the owner was perceived as an NPP sympathizer.
Such freedom of speech became unfettered under Kufuor. Ghanaians, for the eight years that President Kufuor governed Ghana, enjoyed complete freedom of speech, of expression, and of association. In fact, not even incessant lies and deceptions disseminated by the same Rawlings and his deceptive NDC could get Kufuor to begin to curb those freedoms that Rawlings and the NDC denied all others. The fact is that no serious person can claim with a straight face that Ghanaians faced violations of human rights during the eight years that Kufuor led this nation.
The difference between the dark days of an NDC administration which was true under Rawlings, and is true today under Mills are a far cry from the globally-acclaimed period of prosperity that characterized Kufuor’s eight-year administration. NPP-USA expects Rawlings to prop up his party while criticizing the NPP in a way that respects decency and decorum. Again, Ghana has become a serious nation thanks to Kufuor, and we need serious people offering serious assessment of what transpires in our nation. None of this seriousness is present in former president Rawlings’ pack of utter lies and deceptions that he habitually spews to the Ghanaian public. We hereby renew our call to Rawlings to accept our open invitation to debate on national media on the issue of justice, corruption, and sheer ineptitude so that Ghanaians would be better educated on which former president has earned the right to criticize his peers, and which one should shut up.
-- Jermaine Nkrumah PRO, NPP-USA
