Monday,
May 25, 2015
Folks, the
inability of former President Rawlings to put his past behind him and move on
into the future to be respected as a statesman of high repute is assuming ugly
dimensions. He is known for daring the devil and thriving thereby; but as is
known too, if you keep saliva for far too long in your mouth, it turns into
water. And that water isn't pleasant; it is dirt to be spat out in disgust.
Rawlings is
known for making outrageous utterances and going away with them, unscathed,
even if his opponents tongue-lash him in an attempt to paint him as uncouth and
a nuisance. He has survived worse circumstances than such a verbal abuse.
Indeed, he has been protected by the "system" to live his life the
way he does. And his wife and children also benefit from that protection.
But truth be
told, Rawlings' anachronistic prescriptions for solving Ghana's contemporary
problems have remained worrisome. His recourse to harsh words against those who
succeeded him in handling the NDC's affairs is one particular point of
reference. We know how he uplifted the late President Mills from obscurity to
become his successor only to turn round to "crucify" him with scathing
verbal attacks, name-calling for mischief, and many others.
The sudden death
of Mills seemed to have given a new fillip to Rawlings' lambasting of him as if
he was the cause of anything bad for Rawlings and his political career (or that
of his wife, Nana Konadu). We have heard damaging utterances from Rawlings and
brushed them aside for what they are: an expression of frustration by a man who
can't come to terms with the reality eroding his kind of personality-cult and
abrasive politics. Rawlings is still unable to adjust to his post-office
situation and sees everything happening that doesn't suit his desires, needs,
and aspirations as a threat, which is why he reacts acridly.
For the records,
let us acknowledge the fact that Mills passed on and was honoured as the
"Asomdwehene" of Ghanaian politics. At the time, his own brother (Dr.
Cadman Mills) assuaged all concerns and fears when he announced that his
brother died from a natural cause. His family didn't revolt or ask for any
autopsy, even though dangerous speculation by political opponents attributed
his death to mischief or underhand manipulations by those seeking to replace
him.
Yet, Rawlings
won't let him be. He has continued to disparage him and thereby created a nasty
impression about himself and trouble for the government. The Mills family is
now using Rawlings' utterances as a political bait and threatening reprisal
actions against the government at Election 2016. No wonder, the fire that
Rawlings has stoked is now flaring to burn him. And that fire has the potential
to damage the government's interests too, especially given the circumstances
surrounding it in the light of accusations by members of Mills' family that the
Mahama-led administration hasn't fulfilled any of the promises that it had made
at the time of Mills' demise. In Ghana, anything can assume a political
dimension.
Threats from the
Mills' family to disgrace Rawlings if he shows up to participate in activities
commemorating the third anniversary of Mills' passing away say it all. Then,
the open one by Allotey-Jacobs (Central Regional Chairman of the NDC) to
embarrass him buttresses the point that Rawlings has lost favour all the more.
No one needs to
struggle for any pointer to all these issues, especially given the fact that
Rawlings' denigration of Mills is unarguable. He is worse in denigrating Mills
than Mills' political opponents are known for doing. Why it should be Rawlings
doing so is a major issue to probe into by political scientists.
After all, Mills
was not a career politician. he was an academic lecturing in law for decades
until Rawlings roped him in and placed him at the Central Revenue Authority
that Mills rebuilt into the Internal Revenue Service. It was from there that
Rawlings got him into the mainst4ream of hardcore politics as his Vice
President and positioned him to contest the 2000 elections on his own merit
after the infamous "Swedru Declaration" that would even tear the NDC
apart (Remember Goozie Tanoh and his National Reform Party or all other cadres
of the Rawlings revolution who turned coat?).
Despite the
intrigues, Mills did his best to serve the Rawlings cause and earned the
unenviable tag as a "poodle" (by the estimation of Kofi Coomson and
his _Ghanaian Chronicle_ establishment). He did all he could to sustain the Rawlings
phenomenon but refused to be cajoled by Rawlings when he came into his own,
which turned out to be his undoing.
By persistently
raking up the past about Mills and making utterances to shoot himself back into
relevance in contemporary politics, Rawlings has unfortunately bitten off more
than he can chew. He has now offered his opponents the hook, line and sinker
that they will use to snap him. Why is Rawlings so much of a skunk cabbage at
this time that he should have been doing something better to retain whatever
respect he deserves?
I have said it
several times over and over again that his failure to find something better to
do with all the time and resources he has at disposal will lead him to salute
his nemesis. He could be using the time and resources to write his memoir or to
initiate a project to perpetuate his image and give a good reason for his
political legacy. But he isn't.
The US' Barack
Obama has just made a huge stride, choosing a spot in Chicago to establish his
Presidential Library. All former US Presidents have something monumental to
their image. Ghana's John Agyekum Kufuor has a Foundation to tell the world
what he is worth. Rawlings has nothing except the cache of provocative
utterances and dare-devil happenings that characterize his personal and
political life. Is that how he wants to be remembered? I don't think it should
be so.
We will wait to
see whether he will attend the ceremonies against the warnings being given or
whether he will find something to deflect attention from himself. All the same,
he has continued to come across as a bad nut, which isn't good for the cause
that he has fought all these decades. Does he still have any adviser at all?
Putting
everything together, then, we can say that Rawlings is still adamantly
destroying the foundation of his own legacy and creating credibility problems
for the NDC and its government. I don't know whether such a treacherous move is
to serve the cause of his wife's jaded National Democratic Party (which he
claims not to belong to, anyway) or to simply mess up the NDC cause. What for?
Thank God that
Rawlings has issued a statement that “the reaction from the family is understandable
and that he would respect their decision.” (See http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=359548)
Understanding
the reaction of the Mills family and agreeing to respect their decision should
mean much to him so he can abstain from rubbing salt into wounds.
I shall return…
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