Former President Jerry John Rawlings with President Akufo-Addo (right)
Former President Jerry John Rawlings has virtually passed a vote of confidence in President Akufo-Addo and called on Ghanaians to support him to succeed.
He described the president as a ‘cultured’ leader who was doing what his predecessors failed to do while in office, stressing “we must all help him.”
The former president, who is the founder of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), made the comments last Friday at the Accra Digital Centre when he attended a United Nations Youth Summit with Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Special Advisor to the United Nations (UN) Secretary General.
He told the youth that President Akufo-Addo is the most cultured president that Ghana has ever had in recent past, saying that he has good plans for the country and must be supported by all.
He said that the president has given a lot of appointments to women, which is good for the accelerated development of the country.
Mr. Rawlings’admiration of President Akufo-Addo appears to stem largely from the appointment of former Attorney General Martin Amidu as the Special Prosecutor to fight against corruption in the country.
He said the president made a ‘wise’ decision in appointing Mr. Amidu whom he described as the best choice for the job.
Mr. Rawlings said President Akufo-Addo is showing the NDC how to use people with high level of integrity to govern the country after his own party denigrated him (Amidu).
The former president said President Akufo-Addo was not responsible for the delay in the prosecution of people by the Office of the Special Prosecutor, but was hopeful measures would be put in place as soon as possible for Mr. Amidu to start some serious work.
Currently, there is delay in the passage of the Legislative Instrument (LI) that governs the Office of the Special Prosecutor but the draft legislative instrument would be laid on the floor when Parliament reconvenes.
The Special Prosecutor has complained about lack of funds for the office to operate fully but government has stated that his concerns are being addressed.
It was during the same forum that the former president promised to drop a ‘bombshell’ very soon about the ongoing documentary by Multimedia News Channel, Joy News, on the killing of the three High Court judges and a retired army officer in the heat of the revolution in 1982.
He said that he would attend another public lecture at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (NKUST) in Kumasi in the coming days and take the opportunity to put issues into perspective.
Mr. Rawlings appeared to be at loss as to the motive of those who put together the documentary on the incident which occurred several years ago.
“I’ll release a bombshell at UST during a public lecture,” he added.
By William Yaw Owusu