In the interest of full disclosure, I must admit I was one of those young wide eyed people who admired and adored the former President J. J. Rawlings during his first stint as the Chairman of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) and the Head of State; the leader of the Junta that came to clean house. Speaking for myself I saw him as a revolutionist full of idealism; a man of his time; Africa's young Che Guevara and even with time may have the foresight of the Great one Osagyefo himself; out to change people's lives and cure Ghana of her malaise and her malignant tumor called Corruption! Execution of all his processors and returning the country back to civilian rule and going back to the barracks heightened my belief in him as the genuine article “the real deal” and that maybe my admiration and trust in him was not misplaced.
Fortunately, I left the country in 1980 for the US with great admiration and memories of him; with full of hope that he will stand as a watchdog for the people against corruption and help and guide the new government to do right by the people and do all the things he had espoused and stood for; self-reliance, patriotism, hard work; the champion of the voiceless; charisma and great oratory skills. These attributes I still fondly remember of him; some I still think he retains, but he's increasingly misappropriating those attributes that he still retains; a major reason for this article.
No sooner had some of his young admirers left the country in pursuit of various aspirations; the news came that Rawlings was back in power after a coup on December 31st 1981, after two years of President Hilla Limman's civilian government. This single act sent me into a tailspin of questioning my judgment of my admiration for this man! All differences aside such as the unwarranted depose of President Liman's administration; the killing of Judges; the mysterious disappearance of fellow Ghanaians; fair amount of reported corruption within his various governments of twenty years ruling the country; inserting immunity in the current constitution to protect him and the members of his various governments ete., you get the point!!!! “He, who is without sin, let him cast the first stone”. I have been completely disillusioned and disappointed! I suppose once you taste power it's difficult to let go of it. As the saying goes power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely!
The point here is there is no political system or political administration or government in this world that can claim it is without fault; missteps and problems, but, the point of difference amongst these regimes is the magnitude and the severity of the damages and pain they inflict on their various peoples. No one leader can individually eliminate or disabuse all the members of his/her administration of their corruptive and destructive tendencies, however, he/she can do his/her part by the example of their exemplary personal behavior and character to be beyond reproach; swiftly take action if its reported a member of the administration has been found to flout the law. Can our dear former leader claim to measure up to these prescribed leadership standards?
Another disturbing trend of our former dear leader is his uncanny ability to say the wrong thing at the right; by that I mean, when he wisely and bravely took on the two religious crooks, Obinim and Kumchacha and advise the media to better utilize its time on air, that's what I call an appropriate use of his megaphone as an elder statesman; his current clarion call and sounding the alarm for his party to rid itself of corrupt members is a long awaited call that's better late than never! For that I commend him and give him kudos! However, in the same breath, before the writer's ink dried on his writing pad he says this “He declared: “This is certainly not going to earn us political office in 2016 and at this stage we are bound to lose, just as we were bound to lose when President Mills was in office. Fortunately, God took him away and gave us a new hope to this party”.
Now! This is what I mean by misappropriation of those attributes that he still retains; I'm having a hard time believing such a comment came out of his mouth! This kind of pronouncement is totally uncalled for and insensitive coming from an elder statesman; if you have nothing nice to say about a fellow departed leader he should make good use of his ears and be a good listener, for your ears will never get him in trouble, instead they will remind him to be mindful of what you say to fellow citizens. Even, if you dislike President Mills' politics, what about his position as Oman Panyin of Ghana and not just the leader of NDC?
My point is he was the face of Ghana when he lived and therefore must be respected as such! The very position you J.J. occupied for almost twenty years at the helm of affairs; in this case how is Ghana supposed to honor you on your demise? At this stage in his political life as an elder statesman he should be above party politics and should be thinking about the greater good of the whole country and his pronouncements should reflect such; since the country is at the very beginnings of this experiment called “Democracy”.
If I may suggest, J.J. at this point in his life his legacy should be his prime priority just like his compatriot former President Bill Clinton of the US of A and those before him! I advise he put to use his considerable popularity in Africa to good use; setting up a Foundation and Trust or A Think Tank to help tackle Africa's catalogue of humanitarian problems; instead of misappropriating the remaining sway or prestige his name still holds in African political circles. These kinds of unbridle and insensitive statements are certainly not befitting of a former head of state and I advise he apologize to the country and President Mills' family. This is what men of substance do when caught making statements not befitting their status! I have said my piece; this is what the face of democracy looks like; we can agree to disagree!
Ekow Baffou Eburay,
Sacramento, CA.