Why His Excellency Ex-President Rawlings won’t shed tears for defeated Nketia et al

In fact, one does not have to look far for the evidence of Ex-President Rawlings devoted attachment to the party he blithesomely autographed with his blood. Yes, his June 4 coup d’état and 31st December 1981 revolution commemoration speeches are clear manifestations of his unbridled attachment to the party he founded in 1992.

Indeed, Ex-President Rawlings’s unconditional love for his brainchild (NDC) has not tapered off, not by any stretch of the imagination.

Thus, it came as no surprise to some of us at all when former President Rawlings released a press statement recently beseeching the NDC delegates to be mindful of the wolves in sheep’s clothing that lack any integrity, and are only seeking to win the election in order to pursue their parochial interests (emphasis mine).

Rawlings stresses: “With the passage of time a few too many selfish and greedy characters soon began to jump on board. “There were some good people; very good people but leadership and the command structure did not empower them to override those who were destroying the party and the government”.

In the wake of the NDC’s humiliating 2016 election defeat, Ex-President Rawlings lamented: “Most people are yet to recover from the traumatic shock of the December 7th election results. “But I will have to state that if we turn our backs to our history us a party, we cannot escape the responsibility for the result”.

“I kept providing the warning whenever and wherever I could, and in public as well. “But no, once again the uncouth and uncultured in our party and government chose to insult and disrespect some of us” (Rawlings, 2016).

It is absolutely true that some people who called themselves NDC supporters have been showing gross disrespect to their party founder. After all, didn’t the party General Secretary, Asiedu Nketia, who was proselytised and christened into the Umbrella fraternity by Rawlings, once call Rawlings a barking dog? Yes he did.

And, haven’t the NDC’s boisterous brats (the babies with sharp teeth), who are not privy to their party’s history been castigating Rawlings all the time for expressing his grievances over the unobjectionable mess in his party?

If we peruse through the archives of Ghana politics, we will appreciate that Ex-President Rawlings and his cohorts founded the National Democratic Congress based on the ideals of probity, accountability and social justice.

It is on record that prior to the formation of the NDC, J. J. Rawlings and his cohorts annihilated some people they perceived to be corrupt and intentionally hijacking the progress of the nation.

Nevertheless, juxtaposing what happened back then to what took place in the erstwhile NDC administration one cannot help but to conclude that “the suspects were shot for less”.

Yes, the NDC founder, Rawlings, and his cabals tortured and annihilated prominent politicians and business men and women, many of whom were bizarrely accused of legally borrowing meagre sums of money from the bank to support their businesses.

Disappointingly, despite their much touted ethos of transparency, probity and accountability, we have been witnessing so much duplicities, sleazes and corruption in the successive NDC administrations.

I will, however, venture to state that the disgusting behaviour was even worst in the erstwhile NDC administration.

Indeed, we woke up every morning to hear and read fresh news about damning sleazes and corruption in Mahama’s government.

Thus, many observers rightly hold a strong view that Ghana’s current economic downslide was as a result of the unbridled sleazes and gargantuan corruptions in the outgone NDC administration.

Indeed, former President Rawlings has justified the preceding assertion in his previous June 4 address.

Former President Rawlings lamented: “The principles of June 4 are not alien or has never been alien to mankind. They are no different from the most basic religious or human values. Probity, accountability and social justice would on any day liberate the overwhelming majority of our people from the bondage or difficulties they find themselves in.

“The fight against corruption, greed and avarice has however been at great cost. Noble soldiers have died; noble civilians have died for it and so many of the noble ones have suffered and continue to suffer all kinds of indignities for their principles and convictions.

“I want to remind people that we could not have possibly forgotten that Generals were executed. The greed, corruption and injustice of today is a thousand times more than what these Generals were executed for, and if we are unable to restore a firm measure of integrity into our dealings, then the blood of many would have been shed in vain.

“Not too long ago I thought we heard the jockeys claiming the horses were responsible for this disgraceful failure while one of the horses was bold enough to lay the failure at the doorstep of the jockeys.

“For me, we lost our masses because we betrayed the values of June 4. However if this horse – jockey business cannot be resolved comprehensively, allowing integrity to prevail, then let both of them step aside and allow for fresh leaders with solid integrity to provide the needed leadership” (Rawlings 2017; myjoyonline.com).

There you go. Rawlings is indeed not enthused about how the current NDC leadership’s handled affairs during their tenure in office. So, who says he will weep if the non-performing executives are defeated?

Why wouldn’t former President Rawlings shriek and scold on the chilling news of some NDC Members of Parliament allegedly keeping double salaries over a period of two years? Where is the NDC’s ethos of probity, accountability and transparency?

To me, there is nothing wrong for any individual to identify him/herself as an ideologue of transparency, probity and accountability.

However, it becomes extremely troubling and hypocritical when a group of people who claim to be the exponents of such ideals would then turn around and dip their hands into the national coffers as if there is no tomorrow.

Isn’t it hypocritical that the same people who have previously tortured and exterminated people they suspected to be indulging in sleazes and corruption would then cause the collapse of Ghana’s economy through wanton sleazes and gargantuan corruptions?

Unfortunately, the holier-than-thou NDC apparatchiks have been committing the same crimes (sleazes and corruptions) their party founders killed many innocent people for.

Yes, they have been committing numerous atrocious scandals such as the infamous bus branding, the Brazil World Cup, Woyome’s GH51.2M; the $300M STS largesse; Millions of Ghana Cedis embezzled by the NCA, SUBA, GYEEDA, SADA and the National Service Secretariat and all the dubious judgement payments amounting to GH800M).

This is the reason why I cannot abandon my puzzlement over the conduct of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Party loyalists, many of whom continue to defend their corrupt and greedy public officials.

Disappointingly, the NDC apologists would castigate anyone who chooses to squall and criticise their public officials abhorrent behaviour.

How would anyone with the wellbeing of Ghana at heart defend the villainous public officials who are bent on siphoning our scarce resources to the detriment of the impoverished Ghanaians?