Obama lambasts Rawlingsism

“Africa doesn't need strong me, it needs strong institutions,” President barack Obama of the United States said to a crowd which included strongman Jerry John Rawlings.

Giving a little history lesson, President Obama said Ghanaians have stood firm against tyrants and that history is on the side of brave Africans, who fight on the side of freedom and justice, “not with those who use coups or change constitutions to stay in power.”

Addressing Ghana's Parliament and dignitaries Saturday, the first African-American US President did not mince words:

“Now, time and again, Ghanaians have chosen constitutional rule over autocracy and shown a democratic spirit that allows the energy of your people to break through. We see that in leaders who accept defeat graciously — the fact that President Mills' opponents were standing beside him last night to greet me when I came off the plane spoke volumes about Ghana; victors who resist calls to wield power against the opposition in unfair ways.”

The day before he delivered this address, former President Rawlings was on BBC World Service saying “there is no energy” from Ghanaians towards the Obama visit. He compared it to the enthusiastic crowds that welcomed President Bill Clinton 11 years earlier.

When BBC journalist Komla Dumor pressed on asked why the lack of energy, Mr Rawlings said because Ghanaians were disappointed President Mills was being slow in prosecuting former government official s under the Kufuor administration.

When a father travels and returns to hear his son slapped the mother when he was away, he is expected to punish the son,” Rawlings said in reference to the purported lack of energy in Ghana because NPP officials were walking freely.

Obama had to touch on it, saying the very Ghanaians who Mr Rawlings says are disappointed with the slow pace in prosecutions prefer  “victors who resist calls to wield power against the opposition in unfair ways.”

 This was a direct message to former President Jerry John Rawlings and people who think like him – who are consumed by vengeance and vindictiveness. “President Obama is telling President John Mills to resist calls from the likes of Rawlings to bend the rules to deal ruthlessly with the NPP,” said a US journalist who spoke to the Statesman.

Obama described corruption as tyrannical. He urged government to enhance the state's capacity to deal with corruption and gave a clear message that US aid would make a measurement of anti-corruption efforts by beneficiary countries a vital condition.

He reminded Ghanaians that the fight against corruption is far from being won.  His message reminded Ghanaians of the failure of the proclaimed efforts of dictators like Flt Lt Rawlings to bring about probity, accountability and transparency.

President Obama said, “In the 21st century, capable, reliable and transparent institutions are the key to success — strong parliaments; honest police forces; independent judges ... an independent press; a vibrant private sector; a civil society. Those are the things that give life to democracy, because that is what matters in people's everyday lives.”

Rawlings vowed in 1979 and again in 1982 to eradicate corruption but ended up calling on the British Queen for assistance in 2000, after using a government white paper to clear his own ministers indicted by the constitutional body mandated to investigate corruption by state officials, CHRAJ.

As the US President observed, “Africa doesn't need strong me, it needs strong institutions,”