General News of Saturday, 13 October 2012

Source: peacefmonline

Ablakwa: Rawlings should embrace 'evil dwarfs'

A Deputy Minister for Information, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, believes if Founder of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), former President Jerry John Rawlings can warmly welcome flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akufo-Addo to his residence and smoke the peace pipe with him then he must develop a bigger heart and resolve whatever differences he has with members of the ruling party he considers as “greedy bastards”, “babies with sharp teeth” and “old evil dwarfs”.

The NDC Founder, on Thursday afternoon, held talks with Nana Addo at his Ridge residence which is said to have lasted for some twenty minutes. The discussion focused primarily on this year’s election.

Mr. Rawlings is on record to have stated that he may not be deeply involved in this year’s electoral campaign and urged the NPP flagbearer to work to minimize corruption and be fair to all should he win the elections and become President.

Prior to this landmark meeting, the relationship between the former president and Nana Addo, can at best be described as frosty and fractious. The two have been at the opposite side of the political divide since 1992 when the country adopted multi-party rule and never saw eye to eye.

Indeed, under the erstwhile Kufuor administration, the former president was restricted from going near all military installations in the country and his diplomatic courtesies and privileges withdrawn because he [Rawlings] was suspected of planning to stage a coup.

Speaking on Metro TV’s “Good Morning Ghana”, the deputy information minister passionately appealed to Mr. Rawlings to reunite with the perceived “traitors” he considers to be in the NDC, since he (Rawlings) appears to be on a rebranding venture.

“Who would have thought that he (Rawlings) would have met Nana Addo at this time? I mean we all know what has gone on and I don’t want to go into recent history of how his courtesies were withdrawn when Nana Addo was Foreign Affairs Minister. I don’t want to go into all the details…,” Ablakwa said.

The Deputy Information Minister who disclosed that he has often been tagged a baby with sharp teeth simply because the former president failed to open up on who those detractors really are, called on the NDC founder to have a forgiving heart particularly towards those who may have disrespected him.

“I will appeal to him that he should also open up to all the people he keeps calling names because we still don’t know who they are…The “greedy bastards”, the “evil dwarfs”, and the “babies with sharp teeth”…sometimes there are reports that I am one of them…I don’t know because he’s never mentioned names,” Okudzeto Ablakwa noted.