Mrs Rawlings Has Done No Wrong

The vituperation and curses being hurled at Mrs. Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings for daring to exercise her democratic right to challenge Professor Mills to be the flag-bearer of the NDC for the 2012 presidential election in Ghana is quite strange. It is as if the lady has committed such a huge crime and it is as if  this is the first time in the history of the world that this is taking place.

As has been said for the umpteenth time, there is no law in this country that disqualifies any Ghanaian of sound mind to present himself/herself for any election, as long as he/she meets all the requirements surrounding that election.

In the United States of America, the late Senator Kennedy challenged the then sitting President, Jimmy Carter, during the primaries of the Democratic Party for the 1980 presidential election, albeit unsuccessfully.

The filth that is suddenly being thrown at Mrs. Rawlings, who was until recently one of the leading lights and an unchallenged icon of the NDC, says more about that organisation than about the lady.

True to character, but to the amazement of independent observers, all the persons who were widely known to be her close friends are one by one abandoning her…. ET Mensah, Shirley Ayittey, Fiifi Kwetey, Betty Mould, Segbefia, Asiedu Nketiah, etc. etc are showing the kind of unprincipled persons that they are. This is particularly interesting against the background of the fact that all of these people, without exception, owe their small positions thanks to the insistence of the Rawlings duo that they be hired by the Mills machine.

And now…. Obaa Konadu has become the most hated person in Ghana. That is very disturbing, isn’t it, if we want to have leaders who can muster some principles no matter the cost? By their deeds, these people have sent the most horrible signal to the young men and women of this country who need to be inspired by our current leaders .

A number of lessons lend themselves to the whole of Ghana, though.

1. The episode should reveal to all and sundry that in the NDC, the only qualification that matters above anything else is the level of sycophancy that one can demonstrate to the man in power. In their vocabulary, the only thing that

counts most is one’s ability to master the art of opportunism. Loyalty and principles count for absolutely nothing.

2.  The NDC is not interested in quality because if quality was the yard stick for the presidency of this country, Professor Mills would most certainly be one of the most unqualified persons for the job. As we have all known, he has raised incompetence to new heights in this country. The President has simply not been

trained to bear a responsibility as onerous as being the Head of State of a sophisticated country such as ours.

He is obviously so confused and this is shown by everything that he does and says, ranging from the outlandish promises that he made during the campaign trail, to very vulgar contents of his campaign

messages, especially in the Central Region, where he shamelessly sought to pitch one ethnic group against the other, to his reaction to the Anas video at the Tema Port, to the verdict regarding the trial of the Ya Na murder suspects. One

may even add to the list of maladroit actions and pronouncements what he said and did about the Ivorian crisis and his strenuous attempt to fuse State and Church in a secular country such as ours.

At any given opportunity, President Mills has reinforced the general feeling and impression about him being a very weak, inarticulate, and ill-prepared leader. Nana Konadu has said it aloud what every discerning Ghanaian knows and for this she needs to be commended instead

of the wave of condemnation that is being heaped at her.

3. Contrary to the NDC protestations, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings is doing this country the greatest service that any true citizen can do for Ghana. Her bold decision to rid us of the persistent embarrassment called Mills should gladden

the hearts of all patriotic Ghanaians, because if she succeeds to get rid of Mills from their list, and even fails to win the presidential election, she would have helped to spare the country the constant headache that we all suffer any time we see our pastor president or hear him pronounce himself on any

national or international event.
4. By her decision, the lady is telling the men of the NDC, and indeed the whole of Ghana, that we still have some Yaa Asantewaas in modern day Ghana. No wonder

one of her children was named after that legendary queen mother of Edweso. The men of the NDC are clearly only interested in the little moneys and little power that the president has made available to them.   Continued…