Rawlings Warns Against Dishonest Campaigns In NDC

Former President Jerry John Rawlings

has warned unnamed senior officials of the ruling National Democratic Congress and by other misguided persons from the presidency who are engaging in vile misinformation campaigns.

A statement he personally signed and issued on Wednesday said that such persons were “travelling from region to region using the powers of the Executive to indulge in dishonest and dishonourable behaviour by summoning party executives, telling stories, spreading falsehood and promising them vehicles, motorbikes, cash, jobs and rewards.”

The statement was on “campaign of misinformation by elements within NDC, Presidency.” He noted that while an impression was being created of a government desperate to create an image of unity, the tours were used to malign and cast aspersions at people, especially he and his wife.

“I am making a strong call to our party executives and supporters in the regions, constituencies, towns, villages and hamlets not to fall victim to the lies, financial and material promises being made by such dishonest elements,” he declared, saying “Let me remind all concerned that we won all our elections and survived some of the most trying times of our nation’s history for as long as we did, bringing hope and relief to our people because of NDC’s values and principles.

Abandoning these values will not only spell the doom of the government but the hopes and aspirations of our people.”

He said that the reluctance of the government to institute credible and transparent investigations into the fraud and political killings, which were the benchmark of the Kufuor regime, was leading to a sense of hopelessness, indifference and indiscipline.

As a people, he stated, we suffered serious violations of our dignity under the previous regime and the reluctance of the government to tackle these was what was leading to the clear discontent within the party and the nation at large.

He said that some of those party officials, advisors and power mongers hovering around the presidency had lost touch with the reality on the ground, adding that “some of these stories and promises are not only absurd but are an insult to their intelligence.

Those living the reality on the ground should not allow themselves to be misused.” He said: “We have allowed the mass of political testosterone that swirled around the NDC victory to evaporate.

We have allowed the audacity to defy irresponsible and wrongful behaviour from above to dissipate. We have again failed to investigate the electoral fraud that saw the stuffing and replacement of ballot boxes; we have failed to correct or punish where necessary the NPP’s politicisation, tribalism and victimisation of persons, especially in the security services, and allowed the status quo to fester into a malignant tumour,” he intimated, adding that “what has sustained some of us is our attachment to the principles of truth, justice and fair play — it is not a vulgar quest for materialism, a trait better epitomised by the Kufuor regime but which has sadly been endorsed by people now masquerading as die-hard NDC followers.”

“For the NDC to stay strong and closer to the masses who made the party what it is, we owe them a responsibility to defend their God-given right to fulfil their aspirations,” he stated.

“Do I have a problem with President Mills? Yes I do — His refusal to pursue the moral mandate of the people — to reinstate truth, transparency and, most of all, justice into the fabric and psyche of the nation.

This is leading to the institutionalisation of crime and corruption. Justice will be deformed,” he concluded in his signed statement.