Former President Jerry John Rawlings has accused some members of the NDC, especially those in the John Atta Mills government, of disowning him as a member of the party because of his stance on various national issues.
The former President has often been at variance with the government formed from the party he founded in the early 1990s.
“Today my own people in power have disowned me because of my stand for justice, probity and accountability and I am telling them money cannot overpower my moral values especially when it has to do with justice” he declared.
“Time is fast approaching for some of us in the NDC to be bold and take an informed decision to cleanse the party ahead of future elections or else we will all sink together as a result of the weak leadership we have today,” he stressed.
The former President was addressing a large gathering of people at the Tamale Jubilee Park to climax his two-day visit to Tamale to assess the situation on the ground after the burning of NDC and government property by angry NDC/Andani youth in protest against the Accra Fast Track High Court ruling which acquitted and discharged all fifteen Abudu suspects for lack of evidence.
President Rawlings challenged President Mills to live up to his election 2008 campaign promise of setting up an independent Commission of Inquiry to unravel the mystery surrounding the death of Ya-Naa Yakubu Andani II and other members of his retinue on March 27, 2002.
Although Mr. Rawlings maintains that he has credible information on the killers of the Ya-Naa, he has vowed not to make it available to anybody until a proper investigative team is put in place to re-investigate the matter.
He repeated his assertion that the Accra Fast Track High Court ruling which acquitted all 15 Abudu suspects came as no surprise to him because the current NDC administration under the leadership of President Mills has lost its way and the “moral high ground” to rule Ghana in line with the principles of freedom, truth and justice.
“Those in authority today have forgotten that the NDC was not created out of money and it is because they do not have any idea about where we came from that is why they are misbehaving in government,” he fumed.
He also condemned the killing of an unidentified young man who was allegedly shot dead by security personnel on Tuesday March 29, 2011 in Tamale following the skirmishes that erupted after the court ruling. The former President requested the Ministers of Interior and Defence, to set up a team to investigate circumstances that led to the young man’s death and bring the perpetrator(s) to book.
In addition, he pleaded with the Ministry of Interior to take a second look at the curfew hours which he observed has adverse effects on the socio-economic development of residents of Tamale and its environs.
He further reminded President Mills of his responsibility to investigate the “financial atrocities” and serial killings that took place during the Kufuor era. This, in his estimation will redeem the NDC’s sinking image which he said is largely because of President Mills’ “cowardly” nature of failing to deal with the “human brutalities and corrupt practices” that occurred during the erstwhile NPP administration under former President Kufuor’s watch.
“I am highly disappointed and disheartened in the current NDC administration’s lackadaisical attitude towards investigating the wrong deeds of past government officials during the Kufour regime.”
Other speakers including Lawyer Ibrahim Mahama who was legal advisor to the late Ya-Naa Yakubu Andani II, said they were prepared to die for justice at all cost.
He commended former President Rawlings for his continued call for justice in the Ya-Naa and Issah Mobila cases and pledged the Andanis’ commitment to rally behind him to ensure that justice is achieved.
Source: Citifmonline.com/Ghana
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