The Rawlings Factor And NDC's 2020 Agenda

I think Ghana as an evolving society has done pretty well. We came as an amalgamation of different kinds of people into one unitary state. This is not the time to destroy that beautiful unitary character. The leader of a country cannot be friends only to those he likes. That is not leadership. It is the lowest form of churlishness that unbecoming of a leader to send signals that you dislike anyone of the group you lead. Worst is when a leader makes enemies of most because he abhors the action of one or a few. That is not leadership. That is ethnic prejudice. A real leader does not suffer from the destructive disease of ethnic prejudice. I am surprised the founder of the NDC is inciting the people of his home region against the party he himself together with others from across the regions formed. If his pronouncement is anything to go by, then the Volta Region should have been competing with New York by now since a son of the land ruled Ghana for good 19 years. Out of the 19 years, he enjoyed 11 years of limitless power. He could have built skyscrapers, airports, asphalted roads etc the 11 years since he ruled without opposition, there were no procurement prescriptions to follow etc. I am sure the people will diagnose his statement and compare what he gave the region, to what Mills and Mahama did their eight years. One cannot hide the sacred truth that- the Volta Region is the heartbeat of the NDC. The commitment of the people to the party's development is too overwhelming to downplay. If there is a leader to be blamed for what Mr Rawlings said with regard to development in the Region, then it must be Rawlings. But I don't think any patriotic citizen and discerning mind would rubbish all he [Rawlings] did his 19 years just because Volta didn't become the New York of Africa under during his tenure. I am not going to mention projects the Mahama administration implemented in the Region because the former president [Mahama] himself conceded that the region needs more development and planned to make it the Mecca it deserves. The founder should check from the current administration programmes and policies the previous administrations outlined to implement in the region and whether they have made attempts to implement them since they took over.

What Ghanaians need is development. They need good schools, roads, hospitals etc, not vague ideological rhetoric. There is nothing like NDC-Probity and Accountability. When the founder took over in 1981, he disbanded all political parties. All the principles he introduced including probity and Accountability, were meant to shape the destiny and character of Nation Ghana. For him to narrow his Probity and Accountability principle within the NDC environment is problematic. People were shot for less, properties of corrupt politicians and businessmen were confiscated to the state etc we describe the rest as excesses of the revolution. These and others are the reasons why some of us who vehemently supported the two revos are getting worried over the posturing of the founder today. People who opposed the revolution used derogatory words like rogue, evil etc to describe the founder. We fiercely fought back knowing the grace the revolution brought to the people of this country.

The NDC at all times shall remain resolute in defending the rights and freedom of Ghanaians, irrespective of their ethnicity, creed, political persuasions, against the unrelenting impunity, corruption, violations and dictatorial proclivities of the dysfunctional Akufo-Addo-led administration and its super incompetence. The lenses of the founder must travel beyond the Mahama/NDC environment to happenings in the current administration. He said, people secretly reported happenings in the Mahama administration to him and he attacked the administration based on those unverified gossips. Fortunately for him, the corruption goings on in this administration are being made public by elements within the administration, friends of the President, NPP top officials, financiers of the Party and PRO-NPP media houses. What evidence again does he need to push him to do what he did under the previous administration. Where is the probity and accountability principle? I am yet to hear the founder on the projects his party under Mahama, splashed across the country. I am yet to hear him on the lies the NPP told about the NDC and yet to hear him on the failed promises. Who is probing this administration, and accountable to whom.

Yea, the decision to remain in heaven or not is one's own prerogative on earth. I don't think we shall enjoy the luxury of choice when we get to the maker. But the little I know is- God will forever bless the leader who

1. Built hospitals to enable kids, mothers including pregnant ones etc to access healthcare
2. Built schools to enable our kids acquire good education
3. Built good roads to reduce road accidents and pressure of buying spare parts every week
4. Invested state funds into projects with a long-term positive effect like Atuabo gas etc
5. Provided potable water for his people
6. Saved millions from dying from Ebola attack because of his bold decision
7. Built modern libraries to aid smooth learning in our communities
8. Built airports and renovated old ones to attract foreign investment.
9. Respected his seniors despite provocative attacks..etc etc.

God is not going to base his judgement on our human understanding of probity and accountability. A rogue is one who cons the masses just to win their votes, uses powers conferred on them by the masses to mistreat them. That was not what we witnessed under Mahama.

Mahama told Ghanaians prior to the 2016 election that if taking the right decision to save the economy will lead to him losing the election, he was prepared for that. How many sitting presidents or politicians can make that bold statement weeks before an election. And he stood by that principle. That is leadership. Not leaders who play the ethnicity game for their political convenience.

THE RAWLINGS FACTOR AND NDC'S 2020 AGENDA-

Make no mistake, Mahama in 2016, personally informed Rawlings about whatever transpired in the regions after every regional campaign. The relationship between the two was very cordial and that mutual respect was maintained. He [Manama] was always the first to admonish communicators never to attack the founder. The wife Lordina, is the founder's good friend..in fact very close. The Junior brother of Mahama, Ibrahim, is a good friend of the founder. I am still struggling to understand why we are here considering the relationship I know exist between the oldman and Mahama.

The time for another government in Ghana to be removed from power is close. The NPP per their performance this one and half years, is already out of power. The unrelenting impunity,corruption, bad economic policies, failed promises etc have made the government and the party unattractive. Ghanaians are just waiting for Dec 7, 2020. That notwithstanding, there are other critical issues worth considering vis-a-vis the 2020 agenda including the Rawlings factor. Whoever thinks Rawlings will mount an NDC platform and do what did in the past is daydreaming. Not when the NDC candidate whoever may emerge, is competing against Akufo-Addo. He warned us against against the Npp and told us about how the party operates from same standpoint using different names. He himself has become a victim of that Npp agenda. Nana Akufo-Addo always try to crash the Party against the founder. He did that in cape coast during their congress and repeated same during his state of the nation address. He appointed him his sanitation ambassador, invites him to state functions, elect the wife to lead government delegation to international assignments etc etc. That is the psychological warfare Akufo-Addo pushed and pushing to render the man he knows could be a thorn in his flesh, weak. The NDC must look beyond the core party lines. Ghanaians aren't going to vote for revolutionary jargons and ethos. They are going to vote for the party whose message sounds convincing. They are going to compare the performance of the Akufo-Addo administration to that of the immediate past administration. In the 2008 election, many floating voters voted NDC because of Prof and his demeanor. They didn't vote because of our powerful revolutionary messages. I don't think we can stand questions Ghanaians will pose to us if we make probity and accountability our message. Can we explain our one man one toilet rhetoric vis-a-vis the properties we acquire within the period, the GNTC stores, the foreign contracts and loans in the name of private organisations. Can we ? Through strategic communication and genuine show of remorse, Ghanaians who were aggrieved bad didn't want to have anything do with the NDC, joined the Party in 2008. And the Party under Prof Mills and Mahama, didn't renege on the assurance they gave to these aggrieved persons. Are we opening the old docket for the public court to retrial the Party?

After all, the founder, in the past, took certain decisions which were challenged by the rank and file. The Swedru declaration and other decisions were vehemently challenged by some party folks. The NDC is in a different state now. The most attractive party in the country now. Hitherto, the middle class saw the party as an organization formed to wipe them off and didn't want to have anything do with the party. Today, the story is different. We have brilliant lawyers, doctors, lecturers, accountants, teachers etc in the party. The middle-class phenomenon is gradually taking over our society. These are the factors we must consider when discussing the future of the party. This trick of inciting the grassroots against the system is dead and buried. We must sit down and device comprehensive policies to get the grassroots into the system but not that old orthodoxies.

RAWLINGS AND THE KONADU FACTOR-
The mistake many who can't or don't see the effect of Rawlings's actions on the NDC do is- they look at Rawlings from his revolutionary days. I will forever vouch for his credibility in office. Yes, will always do that. But things aren't the same now. The wife took advantage of the husband's position to acquire the wealth we all know. She controls the home now because of her financial position. The husband has become a bit vulnerable because of his position now. He doesn't control power. He is not a business minded person so automatically, will depend on the wife for other commitments. That is the reality. To think that the founder will antagonize the wife by playing an active role in the NDC, will remain a wishful thinking. The wife formed her NDP purposely to destabilize the NDC and the husband knows that but accepted be one of the founders. Rawlings is Rawlings, and Konadu is Konadu. They have different inborn traits despite their long years of marriage.

THE 1979 AND 1981 COUPS' AND THE 2024 AGENDA

The focus of the founder is not NDC victory in 2020. To him, his elements must take over the Party, and prepare it for any time after Akufo-Addo. If he has that revolutionary patience, then why didn't he wait for the Limann administration to finish its term. He stated Limann's decision to go to the IMF for support, as one of the reasons why he removed him. He told the pro-left elements that the Limann administration was negotiating with the imperialists to sell Ghana. He successfully played on the emotions of the young pro-Marxist/Lenninists elements in the system and they had no option than to join him battle the imperialists. Did he go to the IMF during his tenure? Yes, he went and that move was what saved the country from the mess we found ourselves in the 80s.

Yea, you may disagree with John Mahama over few issues. But what he did his four years, has rebranded the NDC and the party will milk from his enviable achievements the next four decades. Ghana is not just the NDC environment. There are millions who do not care about our revolutionary jargons and not interested in the internal power play. All they need is physical achievements and that's what Mahama did. If his achievements place him within the rogues' bracket, then in am sure the title rogue will soon become the most powerful title on earth.