Saturday,
October 13, 2012
It is no exaggeration to say that
former President Rawlings and his wife have become political pests. They have
nothing new to offer Ghanaians except those political rivals of the NDC who see
them today as new-found allies.
As they continue to defy common
sense and reason, they make a huge mockery of themselves and the legacy that
they should have been working hard to defend, not destroy. Probably, they are
themselves not proud of that legacy. I pity them as they stew in their foolhardiness.
The election of Nana Konadu
Agyemang-Rawlings as the flagbearer of the National Democratic Party (NDP) at
the party’s convention in Kumasi today is no big deal. Speculation on this
score has been rife ever since it became clear that the Rawlingses have a
sinister agenda to undercut the NDC in pursuit of their deep-seated political
ambitions.
Not only have the Rawlingses made
scathing pronouncements against the NDC and its government, but they have also
carried out underhanded measures to undercut the party’s support base. Having
indulged in rabble-rousing and manipulating the so-called “foot-soldiers” to
turn against ex-President Mills in readiness for carving their party out of the
NDC, they have carried the battle to a logical conclusion that the Kumasi
delegates convention has confirmed. But this new development exposes their
underbelly all the more.
I don’t begrudge them the right
to enjoy their political will however they choose to; but I detest their
insidious manouevres and patent diabolical politics.
I have already established in
previous articles that the Rawlingses cannot live their lives in any other way
unless they do politics. They have gained enormously from doing so and lived in
comfort while dissembling their true self-acquisitive nature and feeding fat on
the gullibility of the Ghanaian youths to prosecute their hidden political
agenda.
Today has revealed more of them that
we must not dismiss with a mere shrug of our shoulders. That is why I suggest
that the leadership of the NDC must act decisively to cut off the Rawlings phantom
from the party.
Forming and funding the NDP is a
clear demonstration of the Rawlingses’ insidiousness that won’t help the NDC’s
cause. As a party formed to drain the NDC of its grassroots support, the NDP
relies on Rawlings to do its hatchet job as he remains the NDC’s founder and
National Executive Committee chairman straddling the confines of both the NDC
and NDP. This double-dealing must be tackled.
The signature tune of the NDP even
makes this hatchet job clear. It contains threats to “take back the umbrella.”
Vengeance underlies everything about this NDP. Of course, considering the
painful experiences that Nana Konadu has had since she allowed her unbridled
ambition for power to overtake common sense and reason in politics, one shouldn’t
be surprised at all that she has now found the NDP as a safe haven. And that her
husband is solidly behind her!
Rawlings shouldn’t be tolerated
to continue playing hide-and-seek with the NDC. While it took Nana Konadu much
time to resign from the NDC to lead the NDP, Rawlings hasn’t done so even
though he is moving to and from both political camps, behaving as if he can
help the cause of both. He won’t. All he is doing is creating more credibility
problems for the NDC. He must no longer be allowed to do so from within. That’s
why he must be kicked out immediately.
Some of us have already treated
the NDP with the contempt it deserves and won’t care a hoot about its future. But
we care very much that Rawlings will use his place in the NDC to fight its
cause. Already, signs are clear that those who have become disillusioned in the
NDP will quickly advise themselves instead of remaining stuck between the devil
and deep blue sea.
The resignation of the party’s General-Secretary,
Dr. Rockson Mamboah, on the basis of his fear that the NDP is being
micro-managed by Nana Konadu is just an inkling of the storm that is brewing
already. The party’s executive officers in the Upper East Region have also
resigned and returned to the NDC.
History reveals that political
parties borne out by the sentiments nurturing the NDP don’t last. I expect the
NDP to go that way too, especially after the December elections when results
prove that it is no force to reckon with in Ghanaian politics. Then, the
Rawlingses will come face-to-face with the reality that they are repudiating
today.
That is why it is important for
the NDC leadership to act swiftly to steady the party’s ship on the political high
seas. They must immediately dismiss Rawlings from the party to prevent any
further worsening of the party’s fate by him and his hirelings.
I may come across as too
draconian, but I am more than confident that such a bold action will separate
the sheep (who will serve the party’s interests wholeheartedly) from the goats
(led by Rawlings and all those still in the party but working hard to dismember
it).
From what Rawlings told the Joy News
correspondent at the NDP congress, it is clear that he is playing a devilish
game to the disadvantage of the NDC. He had revealed that he owed allegiance to
both the NDC (of which he is still regarded as the founder and Chairman of its
National Executive Committee) and the NDP (of which he is a kingpin and the
main force behind his wife’s ambitions).
Not being bold to dismiss
Rawlings will endanger the NDC more than ever. Here is someone who openly
declared that although he still supports the NDC, he is more supportive of the
breakaway faction (NDP). On this basis, he claims that if he has the energy to
participate in the electioneering campaigns, he will do so for both his wife
and President Mahama.
How impossible! What will
Rawlings say in favour of the NDC only to turn round in the next breath to use
it to the advantage of the NDP?
This split personality problem
has negatively affected the NDC all these years and must be curtailed outright.
His saying that he will not quit the NDC is no justification for him to be
tolerated any more.
Certainly, Rawlings is still
nursing a very damaging grudge that won’t help the NDC’s cause. He is angry
that even though President Mahama has acted to streamline governance, there are
still some people parading the corridors of power who he sees as those
responsible for the NDC’s loss of “high moral ground.”
Rawlings insists that such
characters—who are part of the problem necessitating his gravitating toward the
NDP—should have been “disorientated” or “kept out of the way” by President
Mahama.
To him, not until such characters
are kicked out, the NDC cannot regain the high moral ground nor will he
wholeheartedly do anything in the party’s favour. These are very serious
threats to be tackled with swift and decisive action.
Dismissing Rawlings from the NDC
won’t necessarily collapse the party or detract from its political fortunes at
the elections. It will rather help clean the stables and bring together those
who see the NDC beyond the Rawlings personality cult level.
I call on Dr. Kwabena Adjei and
his team to rise up to the occasion and act as such. After all, whatever Rawlings
might mean to the NDC, he has now demonstrated a dangerous chameleonic quality
that must not be glossed over.
It is not as if without him, the
NDC will fold up. We can tell from what has been happening over the past few months
that the party has begun its electioneering campaigns that those who root for
the party will continue to do so whether Rawlings campaigns or not.
Genuine supporters of the party
and sympathizers alike are not fixated on the Rawlings phantom nor will they
reject the party just because Rawlings is not in it. I daresay that despite all
the so-called benefits of Rawlings’ charisma, what he has been doing since the
return of the party to power has shown a different and darker side of him,
which is nauseating and detrimental to the NDC’s cause.
To solve the problem of this
Rawlings menace, the party has only one course of action—to get rid of him from
its fold and damn the consequences.
Obviously, those who see Rawlings
as a repellent will not have anything to do with the NDC for as long as he
remains there. Comments from many who would have supported the NDC indicate how
much of a problem they consider Rawlings and the rippling effects that his
utterances and actions have had on the NDC.
Here is just a few of such
sentiments, expressed by one
Mensah Abrampah on Ghanaweb (June 29, 2012):
“The insurrection that catapulted
Rawlings to center stage of the political landscape was borne out of anger,
envy, greed, contempt for the courts, rule of law and order and democracy in
general. Remember how for no justifiable cause they murdered three judges and a
retired army major. Remember Rawlings aversion to democracy and his statement
to the effect that democracy slows him down?
Remember the culture of silence
they imposed on Ghanaians? Remember the execution of three former heads of
state and other high ranking military officers without trial? Nothing has
really changed because it’s the same people, same party, same agenda, same
ideology. They have no regard whatsoever for law and order and democratic
principles.”
Serious, very serious negative
impressions. An indictment that can’t be wiped off easily, especially when the
very person at issue is still on the political scene doing things as if he owns
the very air that Ghanaians breathe! This is the challenge facing the NDC: How
does it change this negative impression and win goodwill from such people? Get
rid of Rawlings once and for all. He isn’t indispensable!!
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