The celebration of 31st December has as usual reignited the debate on the legality or legitimacy(acceptable reason) of any coup. I am making it clear from this onset that ‘NO COUP IS LEGAL UNDER ANY CONSTITUTIONAL REGIME’.
I am approaching this from the point of view of ‘logic’ and common sense. I am yet to read on this, and/or other leading Ghanaian websites, a common sense defence of any coup d’etat. One of the top priorities of any government is ‘the Safety and Security of its
people or citizens’, and this implies the defence of the MEANS (STATUTE) that ensures that (ie the Constitution or Decree). In the case of a Constitutional Government, especially in Ghana, this is paramount.
It is by no accident therefore, that the President pledges to defend the Constitution during the inauguration ceremony. My argument is in the following question: “IS A GOVERNMENT INCAPABLE OF DEFENDING THE CONSTITUTION, [THE VERY STATUTE THAT ENSURES ITS EXISTENCE AND
AUTHORITY], A GOVERNMENT WORTH RULING?” In other words, if a President fails to protect the POWER he has, is he worth the power in the first place? A coup is only illegal under the prevailing RULES. It therefore follows that a coup becomes illegal only if it fails to take power and make defunct those prevailing RULES. On the other hand, a successful coup abrogates the constitution or the existing statutes of the overthrown government (which would have made the coup illegal) , and rules by its own ‘Decrees’, it becomes the power that is, and
therefore LEGAL. Need I say more?!
The Rawlings Factor:
It can be deduced from the commonsense arguments above that, any past Ghanaian government, that was overthrown, including Dr Kwame Nkrumah, was weak and incompetent and failed the people of Ghana. If a Constitution is to succeed, it must be protected at all cost. The only one who did not FAIL us, and saw most of his ambitions, especially a STABLE Ghana and a SENSE OF DIRECTION, is His Excellency,
Flt. Lt.(Rtd) Dr J.J. Rawlings. You may disagree with the obvious facts above, but the evidence is overwhelming. There was no braver man to depose him, to start with.
When Mr Rawlings took power on 31st December 1981, among other selfless gestures, he invited any Ghanaian with constructive and pragmatic ideas to either join his government or contribute constructively to the revolution which was very much needed
at the time. He appointed civilians into his cabinet, including women. Mr Agyekum Kuffour was one of those who joined as others ‘chickened’ out for fear of a counter coup. Mr Kuffour later followed the cowards and walked away, now we know more( he was salivating to head the most corrupt government our country has ever seen).
Throughout JJ’s reign, he achieved some heights no Ghanaian leader has ever attained. The youngest ever Ghanaian leader; He successfully protected his regime, hence the stability we enjoy now; ruled the longest; restored morale of farmers, especially cocoa farmers; extension of the national grid to all regions; Year 2000 World Bank Report ranked Ghana’s 148% Food Production Index as the 3rd in the world; established the current local government system; won by the highest ever percentage in any Ghanaian presidential election in 1992; (the list goes on). Why Some Fear JJ.
The fear of JJ is normally disguised as hatred. This is the man who came to conquer not only the then existing military leaders, but also all those before him, including the first coup maker in Ghana, who was then hailed as the bravest Ghanaian alive, the Okatakyie. Some ‘hate’ him because he is brave but not from their tribe. He would have been called OTUMFUOR if he belonged to a certain tribe.
Some also ‘hate’ him because he prevented the SMC II to oversee the 1979 election which would have been a copycat of the 1969 elections when the main Nkrumahist Party was banned in so many areas that resulted in the virtual hand over of power to the Dr Busia led administration. There are also of course, the arrogant dreamer and his
cohorts, who are wetting themselves at the thought of JJ getting his way: they will face the ‘Rawlings music’ for their corruption and drug dealings, and explain what happened to the so called ‘missing diplomatic passports’.
This is not to convince those of you who have been brainwashed into insulting anything ‘Rawlings’ without reasoning. This is to encourage the majority of you who are under no servitude and have all your thinking faculties intact. So if you start typing about this great son of Ghana, think of where and who you would have been without H.E. Flt. Lt. (Rtd.) Dr Rawlings, the FATHER and fierce DEFENDER of the Fourth Republic.
Source: Colombo, LT (pseudonym)