Former President John Rawlings
The Ex-President Rawlings’s (the Founder of the NDC Party) recent euphonious speech to commemorate the June 4 1979 Uprising was thought provoking in my humble opinion.
Predictably, though, we have been observing contending schools of thought. Some critics view the speech as a pompous critique of highly sounding words.
While other observers view the speech as a true representation of the facts on the ground.
Well, I cannot blame the critics for grumbling bitterly over the seemingly thought provoking speech, for after all, they say the truth hurts.
Rawlings asseverates: “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).
To me, that was a wise counselling by the founder of the NDC Party. There is nothing impolitic about the preceding remarks. So where is the justification for all the abuses which are being directed at the old man Rawlings?
Tell me, is the old man Rawlings not right for saying that the erstwhile Mahama administration “squandered many opportunities to clean up and to restore the June 4 principles in the party?”
Granted, the old man Rawlings have gone overboard with his remarks, the NDC faithful should not have gone to an extent of abusing the very person whose brainchild (NDC Party) has made them somebodys.
Why are you squalling and upbraiding Ex-President Rawlings for advising: “Ladies and Gentlemen, nobody is saying don’t make money but make it good and clean but not some of the ones that I know, sickening, the kind of greed, selfishness, look at where it landed us.”
It beggars belief that a section of the NDC brassbound supporters would insult their founder for calling a spade as a spade.
Given the gargantuan corruptions in the previous administration, it will only take a sycophant to criticise anyone who shows concern.
Take, for example, the alleged 43 cars the erstwhile Mahama’s administration ordered surreptitiously at a staggering cost of $9 million, without informing the incoming NPP administration gives oxygen to former President Rawlings’s assertions.
Let us be honest, some of the criticisms former President Rawlings has been receiving from the disgruntled NDC Party loyalists are somewhat unfair.
“Jerry John Rawlings also has to give accounts as former head of state. He took people monies from them. Whom did he account to?
“He is the first person to give accounts if he is calling for probity and accountability. He has no moral rights at all in calling for accountability unless he also give accounts of monies he received from former Nigerian Head of State Sanni Abacha” )Alhaji Sani; mynewsghana.com).
Isn’t it true that when Mahama assumed office, things started to fall apart?
Indeed, things went from bad to worse after the 2012 general election.
As a matter of fact, Ghana’s total debt ballooned astronomically following the unbridled spending in the 2012 general election and the numerous corruption scandals involving GYEEDA, SADA, SUBA, Bus Branding, dubious judgement debt payments and many others.
The Progressive Nationalist Forum (PNF) for example, estimates that monies lost to corrupt and dubious transactions (GYEEDA, AZONTABA, SADA, SUBAH, the purported $200million debt incurred on the faded STS housing deal, the dubious Embraer 190 Aircrafts and hanger for the Ghana Armed Forces and over a US$100 million oil revenue loss between 2011 and 2013 as reported by the Public Interest& Accountability Committee) under the presidency of John Dramani Mahama, amounted to over GHC5billion.
So, where is the justification for censuring your founder Rawlings when the erstwhile NDC government wilfully increased a GH9.5 billion debt in 2009 to a staggering GH122 billion, albeit with a little to show for, in just a period of eight years?
How can you not understand Ex-President Rawlings when the maladaptive NDC government’s corrupt practices shrunk Ghana’s GDP from $47 billion to $37 billion in a little over five years?
