Jerry Rawlings’ last wish, NDC forgot
The spirit of Mr. Rawlings may agree with Aseidu Nketia, General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), if he suggests the party should not be treated as a guest, when it comes to the funeral arrangement of its founder but this sincerely can’t be Mr. Rawlings’ last wish for his party.
Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings, founder of the National Democratic Congress, became publicly known for his belief that his party was going into the abyss and he owed the party a moral obligation to save it.
We may have noticed the late former president dedicating most of his time, speaking to members of the NDC, whenever he was invited. He would say, “There is hope for the NDC and I will show the party how to bounce back in 2020”. Did he ever show the party how to bounce back? What did bounce back mean to the late former president? Was it for the NDC to win the December 7 polls or to go back to its roots of probity and accountability while in opposition?
Today, the National Democratic Congress is busily fighting for recognition at the funeral arrangement of its founder when it fell out with him long before his death, perhaps as a result of his attempts to remind the party of its roots. Many Ghanaians, believe the late former president found a new love in President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and got very close to him.
The opposition NDC is angry that Nana Akufo- Addo, President of the Republic of Ghana, appears to have hijacked the funeral of their founder without their acknowledgement, but what else did they expect? The essence of a state burial is to have the image of the Presidency strongly involved and the President does not need permission from the NDC to perform his national duties.
The former first lady and wife of the late former President, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings fell out to form the National Democratic Party on 13th November, 2012 to contest the NDC along with other political parties. Some leading members of the NDC have equally expressed disappointment in how the family of the late former president have unfairly treated the NDC in the funeral arrangement of its founder, but our elders say, it is only in a fairy tale that one can cross a river on the back of a friendly crocodile.
History will remember the late former President and founder of the NDC for expressing worry on how some young members, riding on the party he founded to commit evil acts yet they turn round to gossip about him and his family.
According to him, there were some little ones in the party, who were vicious with their mouths and tend to spread falsehood about him and his wife Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings.
Speaking during a durbar to commemorate the 39th anniversary of the June 4 revolution in Accra, he bitterly described rumors being spread about him as false.
The NDC can have a separate funeral for its founder if they feel the current President has hijacked it, but the two popular words he proclaimed thus; probity and accountability, must deeply sink into the philosophy and character of the party.
By Kwesi Atuahene