What is the essence of a "one-man-thousand" enforcing the annual celebrations of dastardly murderous coup d'états on Ghanaians? Truly, "in the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king". In a country where cowards abound, the least coward among them springs like a compressed, but released metal ring wire, to a conspicuous height where anyone can see him/her. This is exactly what is happening in Ghana with the daily display of monstrosity by a habitual ridiculous giant calling himself Togbe Avaklasu Jeremiah John Rawlings. Rawlings out of his deceptively self-assumed importance and bravery surpassing common sense, has come to dominate Ghanaians with his "one-man -thousand" strongman nonsense. He has lopsidedly been allowed to dominate the Ghana's political landscape for far too long without anyone raising a finger.
It is pure selfishness on his part to continually disregard authority and the people of Ghana. Why at all should he be permitted to continue to impose his will on people as though we are still under his mobster military regimes? Why does he feel it is right to celebrate his gangster usurpations of power - 4th June and 31st December? Rawlings, ungracefully thin and raw-boned and as far worse poorer than "Asore dan mu akura" (church mouse), twice overthrew governments in military uprisings led by him. No sooner had he succeeded in his military revolution of 4th June 1979 than he executed Former Head of State General I.K. Acheampong and General Utuka. He then proceeded to execute through firing squad, Lt. General A. A. Afrifa, sitting Head of State Lt. General Akuffo, Air Vice Marshall Yaw Boakye, Navy Commandant Amedome, Brigadier Kortey and ....(Major General Odartey Willington died in firefight cornered at Nima Police Station).
Rawlings claimed to have come to fight corruption and abuse of power by his military colleague predecessors. He had come intending to instil sense of discipline, probity and accountability in Ghanaians. But as it now stands, he had actually come to do the very opposite as hypocrite and insatiably selfish as he is. That lanky man is now carrying a potbelly, a sign of riches - "sikafro" in the Ghanaian parlance. He is far corrupt than those he had accused of corruption and had them executed at the Accra Labadi firing range. Being haunted by his own shadow and guilty conscience, and most importantly, seeking to save his own neck, he made sure a clause was entrenched in the Constitution to provide him the necessary safeguards. He would never go civilian or hand over the administration of the country to anyone unless a level of safety assurance was granted him. He then ensured he was exonerated of all blame, be they murder, theft, pugilism or physically accosting his subordinates. A Clause of "indemnity and no accountability" was entrenched in the 4th Republic Constitution.
The cowardly nature of Rawlings is laid bare in the provision of that Constitutional clause just stipulated. He is worse a coward than a woman - without any intention of insulting the weaker sex, man's better half. Once shielded in that Constitutional protective metal, he keeps calling the shots. As ignorant but arrogant as he is, he sees himself as though he was the Life President of Ghana. Nana Togbe Avaklasu, you are no longer the President of Ghana so give Fiifi Atta Mills his personal space without breathing down his neck. Rawlings having a following of logically ignorant but highly irrational beings thinks to be running a parallel radical NDC government to that of "Asomdwehene" Fiifi Evans Atta Mills'.
Rawlings always thinking to be an inch taller than any Ghanaian in terms of intelligence and wisdom, retrospectively extended the protective cloak to cover all participants of military coup d'états as ever experienced in the life of Mother Ghana. If he knew head-soldiers dabbling in politics could be exonerated of all blame, why should he kill his military coup d'état author-predecessors? His attitude is a cardinal trait of a selfish person who is anathema to his fellows and to his society. How does this posthumous exemption from blame benefit those that he killed as mentioned above? As he could not single himself for exemption, he included many others whom in his heart he has never pardoned. If he really meant as stated in the Constitution, he would never again dream of celebrating the very uprisings that maimed or killed his predecessor Heads of State. Rawlings is simply a sly fox.
Rawlings is today being told that his June 4th and 31st December military junta celebrations are illegal. They denote pain to most Ghanaians except the few callous NDC fanatics who are excuse me to say, have been robbed of their reasoning powers. Rawlings is a symbol of anything negative in the Ghanaian society. In his little mind's eye, he is Lord to whom all must prostrate or kowtow. What an unspeakable self-estimation?
Anyway, President Mills and all his Cabinet Ministers should do themselves immense favour by boycotting the impending June 4th Military junta celebration as slated for Tamale. These nonsensical celebrations loathed by many a Ghanaian always seeks to divide but not to unite the people of Ghana. Any current NDC Cabinet Minister who attends the upcoming June 4th celebration should see themselves as enemies of Ghana. The fact that we live in democracy does not allow Rawlings to pursue his devilish intentions via these celebrations.
It is sad to note that a learned lawyer has alerted us to the fact that it is constitutionally impossible to attempt to repeal that protective cocoon in which Rawlings is shielded as entrenched in the Constitution. He says seeking to do so via referendum is not only illegal but impossibility. My own little research confirms the view of this lawyer by name Annan. How then do we go about stripping Rawlings of that Constitutional clause that has turned this once a coward person into a vociferous monster? With patience and time, solution will surely be found. Rawlings was not the one who introduced democracy to Ghana as erroneously the belief of some NDC sycophants. Elections were in progress or were being conducted when he staged his May 15th abortive uprising. It was Major Boakye Djan who staged that successful June 4th uprising but stupid as he was, did allow Rawlings to head the government, thereby creating this ludicrous strongman.
Find below my findings on the Constitutional amendment in quote, as opined by Lawyer Annan in conformity with international law.
"The right reserved to the people to approve or reject an act of the legislature, or the right of the people to approve or reject legislation that has been referred to them by the legislature. The referendum power is created by state constitutions and is conferred on the citizens of a state or a local subdivision of the state. Referendum provides the people with a means of expressing their opinion on proposed legislation before it becomes operative as a law. The power of referendum does not permit the people to invalidate a law that is already operative but suspends or annuls a law that has not yet gone into effect. In this sense, referendum is similar to a governor's Veto power. Also, by referendum the people may reinstate an act that the legislature has expressly repealed. The referendum, along with the initiative, is the two forms of direct legislation adopted by many states during the direct democracy movement of the early twentieth century. Referendum allows the people to state their opinion on laws that have been enacted by the legislature, and the initiative allows the people to propose their own laws. Thus, in the states that have adopted the initiative and referendum, the people essentially form another branch of the legislature, having the ability both to enact laws and to overturn laws passed by the elected legislature but not yet in effect. An initiative or a referendum passed by the people has the same force and effect as any act of the legislature. A referendum may be challenged on constitutional grounds; on grounds that proper procedures were not followed in the referendum process and election, or on grounds that the referendum or initiative was outside the scope of authority granted by the state constitution.
Also, in some states the governor may veto an initiative or referendum. The general initiative and referendum were first adopted in the United States in South Dakota in 1898, and many states soon followed. The movement toward direct legislation did not grow from a desire of the people to exercise the legislative function directly. Rather, many people distrusted their legislative bodies, believing that large corporations and powerful groups of individuals were corrupting legislation. The power of referendum made most legislation subject to the will of the people".
Rockson Adofo
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