Sack Rawlings from NDC -Mahama boys mount pressure

Pro-Mahama groups in the governing National Democratic Congress continue to mount pressure on the leadership of the party to sever ties with the party's Founder, former President Jerry John Rawlings, describing him as a "traitor", a "tribalist" and a "liability" to the party.

They are particularly angry with Mr Rawlings for seeking to tag President Mahama's government with corruption, while endorsing Nana Akufo-Addo, Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party, as an incorruptible person with the ability to fight the canker.

In his recent interview with the Nigerian media, Mr Rawlings expressed fears about the chances of the NDC in the upcoming elections, citing the massive corruption that has engulfed the Mahama government. He added the NPP was fortunate to have a leader "who is not known for messing around with material things."

Following this, the Social Democratic Forum of the National Democratic Congress has descended heavily on the former president, describing him as a traitor, a tribalist and a "liability who has lost his mind."

"The sooner we disassociate ourselves from this loose cannon, the better," the group urged the leadership of the NDC in a statement signed by its spokespersons, Manan Mustapha and Alhassan Issahaku.

The call comes just a couple of days after another group, Friends of Atta Mills, who are working for the re-election bid of President Mahama, asked the leadership of the party to sack their Founder.

The group believes the conduct of Mr Rawlings could spell doom for the governing party, ahead of this year's elections.

Spokesperson for the group, Gabriel Agah, accused the former president of making utterances calculated to scuttle President Mahama's and NDC's re-election bid.

"It's becoming too much of him. Whenever he speaks and mention the names of President Mills and Mahama, he mentions corruption and makes wild allegations against them without any evidence," Mr Agah lamented.

Members of the Social Democratic Forum share the position of their colleagues, claiming that the supposed barrage of attacks from the former president is targeted at derailing the third term bid of the party.

They even claim Mr Rawlings is being motivated in his attacks by his ethnic hatred for President Mahama, who he is a northerner.

"The fact that Rawlings not only overthrew Ghana's first Northern president, but visited upon him various humiliations and indignities after his departure, is telling. He seems to have a pathological dislike of Northerners. His constant unjustified criticism of President Mahama no doubt stems from this animus. It can thus be concluded the (sic) Rawlings is an incorrigible tribalist," the group said in a statement signed by Manan Mustapha and Alhassan Issahaku, the spokespersons.

The statement added: "Rawlings constant carping from the sidelines is the sign of a man in desperate straits. A yesterday's man who has been reduced to irrelevance in national discourse, cutting a lonely, sad and desperate figure, one whose glory days of yore are a distant memory; a man who increasingly resorts to barbs and vitriol at the party he gave birth to and the man who now leads it. It is a sad state of affairs and does not befit a former leader of our great party, let alone erstwhile head of state."

The statement said Mr Rawlings' endorsement of Nana Akufo-Addo as an incorruptible leader was an attempt to "seek ...favour with the enemy."

"This is treachery and disloyalty of the highest order. Since his departure from the highest office, Rawlings has shown that his loyalty is only to himself and his ego. He has constantly criticised every NDC president, belittling them at every opportunity," the group added.

The statement from the group further questioned the moral authority of the ex-president to talk about corruption and tribal politics.

"Was it not he who, in office, surrounded himself with a cabal of advisors and ministers from his own ethnic group? Was it not he who cemented the NDC's support base in the Volta Region to the exclusion of other regions? Yet Rawlings has the brass-neck to denounce tribalism, castigating our own people for stating facts..." the group said.

The group also accused former President of fanning the Dagbon crises, after he had allegedly lied to Ghanaians he had a tape that would bring the truth concerning the Ya Na murder, adding that he took advantage of Northerners during his term as president, only to neglect them later.