NDC Cadres Fights Valerie Sawyerr Over Corruption Attack on Rawlings

A group of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Cadres and Activists have responded to Dr. Valerie Sawyerr's for his public outburst against their party founder like, Jerry John Rawlings.

According to them, Dr Valerie Sawyerr cannot expect President Rawlings to condemn corruption in the current President Akufo Addo’s NPP government when the perception of corruption about his own party lingers on.

Below is the full statement;
NDC CADRES AND ACTIVISTS’ REACTION TO DR. VALERIE SAWYERR’S OUTBURST ON H E JERRY JOHN RAWLINGS, FOUNDER OF THE NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS.

As Cadres and Activists of the NDC, we are saddened by the outburst of Dr. Valerie Sawyerr, Deputy Chief of Staff in the erstwhile Mahama Administration, on H E Jerry John Rawlings, Founder of the NDC. Since the formation of this party in 1992, no member (of high or low ranking) has ever publicly insulted any of our elders let alone the Founder on whose back we have all risen to prominence.

Our cultural and ethical upbringings as Ghanaians enjoin us to be respectful to our elders in all our dealings with them. We have the right to register our dislikes, disagreements and criticisms of the elderly. However, we do so with decorous language that portrays us as well trained, mannered, and cultured adults. Any act of omission or commission in our quest to register protest, disagreement, or criticism that goes contrary to these societal edicts, portrays us as ill-mannered, untrained, uncultured, and disrespectful persons, no matter how rightful we may be.

From the days of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) to date, any individual who has dealt with Jerry John Rawlings knows how passionately he pontificates on societal issues he believes in, or abhors. The ‘say it as it is’ approach epitomizes his character which no one can take from him. The place and time he expresses these passions may leave many like Dr Valerie Sawyerr cringing. But that is his style and one has to understand it in order to get the best out of him.

We do not hold the founder as a perfect being, as he, like anyone else, has his liabilities. Once we in the NDC eagerly enjoy his assets, we should as well be prepared to accommodate what we may deem as his liabilities – venting on pertinent issues we gloss over when we least expect him to do so. The Bible reminds us to remove the speck in our eyes before we remove the log in our friend’s eye, and charity, they say, begins at home. So, J.J. Rawlings needs to set the standard in his own home in order to have a measure for assessing outsiders. The perception of corruption has haunted the NDC in the recent past and is yet to be taken off the party’s head. It has affected all NDC members, including many decent and innocent persons, and the majority of party members continue to contend with this disgraceful perception for no fault of theirs.

If all well-meaning Ghanaians have been talking about this canker and genuinely addressing it, we would not have been in this quagmire. The choice of venue by President Rawlings to talk about this societal ill is no brainer. Thus, Dr. Valerie Sawyerr cannot expect President Rawlings to condemn corruption in the current President Akufo Addo’s NPP government when the perception of corruption about his own party lingers on.

Former Prime Minister Dr. K. A. Busia advised Ministers of his Progress Party government and other public servants not to receive gifts at post, as the gifts would corrupt them. Dr. Valerie Sawyerr would have done the NDC a lot of good if she had advised her former boss not to have accepted the Ford Expedition SUV from a Bukinabe as gift whiles in office.

Article 6, of the Constitution of the National Democratic Congress, under; Establishment of the Party states unambiguously that, “The Founding Father of the party is Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings upon whose vision and leadership the party was established.” The decision to confer the position of Founder of the NDC on President Rawlings was taken at a National Congress of the party. Any NDC member who feels strongly against this decision should know the procedure to amend the party’s constitution to that effect. So, such members should kindly save us the ugly noises they have been making in the media and elsewhere.

In spite of the hard work of his disciples, no one has disputed the fact that Jesus is the Founder of Christianity, and in the same vein many Ghanaians know and refer to Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah as the Founder of the Republic of Ghana, irrespective of all contestations. There is no doubt on our minds and on the minds of a cross-section of Ghanaians, including NDC and non-NDC members, that H. E. Jerry John Rawlings is the Founder of the Great National Democratic Congress and he should be accorded his right of place within the party.

We wish to remind all that the National Democratic Congress was formed with a historic mission to provide a voice for the voiceless, the marginalized, and the excluded in society, including farmers, fishermen, market women, public and industrial workers, trades, artisans, progressive intellectuals, and all manner of persons at the lower stratum of the Ghanaian society.

Ever since Jerry John Rawlings burst onto the Ghanaian political scene, he has continually provided inspiration and leadership to this crop of Ghanaians. He has always stood for the truth, integrity, honesty, accountability, probity and social justice. He abhors any deed that lowers the dignity of the ordinary Ghanaian. He is indiscriminate and leads his people with clear conscience, always defending his actions with passion. He hates no one.

For the NDC to regain its relevance and be better prepared for the 2020 Presidential and Parliamentary elections, all progressive forces across the country must unite, with H. E. Jerry John Rawlings playing a key role.

Comrade Kofi Aikins
Chairman
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Comrade Yidana Adam
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