Former President Jerry Rawlings has stated that he has not retired from active politics and will not retire soon as is being speculated by some politicians.

He said those craving for his early retirement were only daydreaming. According to Mr. Rawlings, he had intentionally kept silent for good reasons and would definitely speak at the appropriate time.

“People have started talking rubbish because I have been quite for some time but I will definitely speak my mind at the right time for you to know I am not a person that you can joke with,” he told an enthusiastic crowd at Biriwa on Saturday, before leaving for South Africa.

Mr. Rawlings’ comment attracted a lot of applause from thousands of people who trooped to Biriwa in the Mfansteman West District of the Central Region over the weekend to celebrate their annual Okyire festival celebrated by the people of the area. Mr. Rawlings hinted that utterances made especially by some members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) would not compel him to stop criticizing the government.

The former President disclosed that he had been invited to South Africa to address the African Parliament and would surely tell them some of the irregularities going on in the government of President John Evans Atta Mills.

“There is the need for me to tell the whole world how the NDC government is corrupt and cannot perform well,” he added. “I will bounce back when I come back from South Africa and will expose the impunity going on in the NDC government,” he stated to further loud applause.