… Rawlings Speaks, Limann Answers!

RAWLINGS JUSTIFIES HIS COUP AGAINST LIMANN/PNP GOVT!

“…I Can Go On And On Stating The Failure Of The Limann Government … But Let Me Just End This Sordid Record By Saying That It Was The Most Abysmal Failure Of Any Government We Have Ever Had In Our History (July 29, 1982)”

“As you all know, about six months ago, we were compelled to stop the continuous plundering of our national treasury and the ruin of the entire country by men of inordinate selfishness and utter disregard for any sense of national purpose. We promised you then that we were going to restore this country to its pristine sense of national purpose and pride in which men and women would find some meaning in their lives. Since then a lot of things have happened. Some, we can be justly proud of, others not.

“I would like to use this occasion to reflect a bit on the past. I would like all of us to cast our minds back and review incidents of the past, to note what we have achieved, what have been our weaknesses and limitations, what have been the obstacles for further progress and how we can chart out a new sense of direction. “Let me stress at the outset that this is not intended to be a comprehensive review of our record in government. It is only meant to provide us with the background against which we can discuss with frankness certain problems of this country. Six months is far too short a time in the life of a nation’s history to be able to assess what has been achieved in the form of a fundamental change.

“We have not advanced as much as and as quickly as we would have liked to, but given the nature of the political and economic situation at the time we came, the resources at our disposal, the hostile international environment, and the depths from which we started out, our record has been impressive. This is something which even our opponents cannot deny.

“When we handed over in September 1979 we did so on our own volition without any pressure from any quarters whatsoever. We did so in the belief that the conditions which compelled us to intervene directly in the political process would be removed by the incoming Government and that the initiatives which we had begun during our short stay under the AFRC would be continued.

“THESE WERE THAT REALISTIC STEPS WOULD BE TAKEN TO BRING SOME MEASURE OF SANITY INTO THE ECONOMY: CHECK INFLATION, BALANCE OUR BUDGET, REDUCE OUR PUBLIC DEBTS, BOTH DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN, BRING PRICES DOWN TO THE LEVEL AT WHICH THE MASS OF OUR PEOPLE CAN AFFORD, REDUCE OUR BALANCE OF PAYMENT DEFICITS AND END THE RAMPANT SPECULATION AND THE GENERAL PRIVATIZATION OF GOVERNMENT PROPERTY AND THE POLITICAL CORRUPTION AND MORAL DECAY WHICH PREVAILED IN THE COUNTRY.

“We had also hoped that the incoming administration would stick to the norms and practices of parliamentary democracy which at that time we did all in our power to instal, nurture and protect. Instead, it continued the system which rewarded cheats, rogues and speculators and punished hardworking men and women. Not only that, it even tried to reverse the little gains which the people had made during the June 4th period. In an act of inexplicable insensitivity and arrogance towards the mass of the people of this country, it tried to institutionalize corruption and decadence.

“I CAN GO ON AND ON STATING THE FAILURES OF THE LIMANN GOVERNMENT, A GOVERNMENT ON WHICH WE PUT SO MUCH HOPE. BUT LET ME JUST END THIS SORDID RECORD BY SAYING THAT IT WAS THE MOST ABYSMAL FAILURE OF ANY GOVERNMENT WE HAVE EVER HAD IN OUR HISTORY. IT WAS IN SUCH CIRCUMSTANCES THAT WE WERE FORCED TO INTERVENE AGAIN IN THE POLITICAL PROCESS.

“As I had said before, no one was more disappointed than I at our return. But such was the state of affairs that it would have been not only immoral, but a failure on our part to look on helplessly while the destinies of so many fine men and women were destroyed by callous politicians.

“Contrary to the opinions of our detractors that we would not even be able to form a government we were able to put together a fairly good and reliable national team reflecting different social and political forces. Within the limits of what was available they have, as a group, performed reasonably well in responding to the day-to-day needs of our country. What we now need to do is to strengthen the team to enable it to meet the challenge which the goals to which we have set ourselves demand.

“The changes we announced yesterday should be seen in this light.

“FELLOW COUNTRYMEN, TO SAY THAT OUR ECONOMY WAS IN A SORRY STATE AT THE TIME WE TOOK OVER IS AN UNDER-STATEMENT. IN FACT WE DID NOT HAVE WHAT ONE WOULD CALL A NATIONAL ECONOMY. PERHAPS A FEW BRUTAL FACTS WILL MAKE THE SITUATION CLEAR.

“By December 31st 1981 our estimated disposable resources available for imports stood at about $33 million. As against this, our outstanding short-term commitments alone stood at about $348 million. It is clear from this alone that we were facing bankruptcy.

“The estimated disposable resources were hardly sufficient to cover two weeks’ imports. The domestic situation was no better.” (Source: Selected Speeches Of Flt. Lt. J.J. Rawlings, Chairman Of The PNDC - 31 December 1981 To 31 December 1982 – “Review Of Ghana’s Political, Social & Economic Situation (Excerpts) – Page 40 - 42)

LIMANN ANSWERS HIS CRITICS AND ASSERTS THAT ‘THE CHALLENGES’ HIS PNP GOVT INHERITED WERE ‘ENORMOUS, DAUNTING & FRIGHTFUL’! “…We Had Inherited A Consolidated Debt And Not A Consolidated Fund” (May 29, 1980)

“As a result of the misconceptions of the aims and objectives of the June 1979 events, Ghana was finally and totally blockaded after the country had long ceased to be credit-worthy in international financial circles. All driblets of imports into the country ceased completely. The meager stocks available were all sold out in a shopping spree.

“For not paying our crude oil bills regularly, supplies of the life blood of mobility and of the economy were also totally cut off. It is now common knowledge just how rough times were before and after the public executions. We were treated as a paria nation by the rest of the world. These are harsh facts which no proponent of natural allies and other slogans can deny. In our direst hours no country, apart from Nigeria, came to our aid. Even presumed friends have been demanding the payment of old debts before they can consider whether or not to help us.

“THE CHALLENGES WERE ENORMOUS, THE TASKS AHEAD WERE DAUNTING AND FRIGHTFUL. TO MY MIND, THE ONLY COUNTRY WHICH HAD SUFFERED SUCH A FATE BEFORE IN BLACK AFRICA HAS BEEN OUR SISTER REPUBLIC OF GUINEA, THAT IS, IN 1958. OUR VALIANT FELLOW CITIZENS OF GUINEA SURVIVED IT. SO HAVE WE AND WE SHALL MOVE AHEAD. IN ANY CASE, WE ASKED FOR AND RECEIVED THE MANDATE TO SAVE OUR COUNTRY AND CAN THEREFORE NOT RUN AWAY FROM OUR SACRED DUTY.

“Even before we took over the reins of government we had to set to work. We resolved the fuel crisis within weeks because the Founder and a few others in the party hierarchy had to rush around and ensure that our crude oil sources were quickly reopened. We stopped crude oil supplies from the spot market, then being delivered at double the price. We ensured that all long outstanding oil bills were paid up.

“THE COMBINED EFFECTS WERE THAT ONLY A WEEK AFTER WE ASSUMED OFFICE, QUEUES AT PETROL-FILLING STATIONS HAD DISAPPEARED. BUT THIS WAS ALSO DONE AT A VERY HEAVY FINANCIAL TOLL ON THE ALREADY EMPTY NATIONAL CHEST.

“Comrades, this was no mean achievement. Sometimes, I marvel at the adaptability and flexibility of the Ghanaian mind. WE ALL SEEM SO QUICKLY TO HAVE FORGOTTEN THE BITTER EXPERIENCES OF THE TIME WHEN MOST OF US HAD TO SLEEP IN OUR CARS FOR SEVERAL NIGHTS ON END IN ORDER TO OBTAIN ONLY TWO GALLONS OF PETROL AS A WHOLE WEEK’S RATION.

“However, we did not stop at merely breaking the blockade of our country. We set to work making Ministerial nominations and/or appointments. The acid tests that all nominees had to go through in Parliament and the inexplicable delays are now common knowledge to all of you. Some of them have been held up by over three months.

“However, we quickly followed this up with work on the Sessional Address delivered in November which, faithful to our Manifesto, clearly charted the course of the People’s National Party administration. It was characterized by two key words: REHABILITATION and REDIRECTION. The Sessional Address provisionally laid bare the truth about our economy as we found it on assuming office. It also clearly set out the priorities we must follow.

“Comrades, I implore you all and repeat my appeal to you, to re-read the Address carefully as well as our Manifesto so as to thoroughly familiarize yourselves with the objectives and aspirations spelt out therein.

“We followed the Sessional Address with the Six Months National Budget, that is for the second half of the 1979/80 financial year. THE BUDGET FURTHER EXPOSED THE TRUTH ABOUT OUR ECONOMY, REVEALING THE EXTENT OF OUR INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL INDEBTEDNESS AS WELL AS THE GOVERNMENT’S DOMESTIC FINANCES, NAMELY, THAT WE HAD INHERITED A CONSOLIDATED DEBT AND NOT A CONSOLIDATED FUND. IT ALSO SHOWED THAT HUGE SHORT-TERM FOREIGN DEBTS INCURRED BY OTHERS WERE DUE FOR REPAYMENT. In all these public documents, as we had earlier done during the campaign, we called for discipline in our public lives and in our financial administration.

“As we have recently revealed regarding the Ministry of Foreign Affairs alone, savings or non-deficit spending to the tune of $7m. a year can be made in the running of our foreign missions. This is the result of some of the measures we have taken and clearly shows that the government is determined to live up to the principles of financial discipline. Curbs on wasteful spending within the machinery of government at home have been even more substantial Perhaps, our critics may wish to re-examine the records. Naturally, we can plead guilty to “lowering standards” or is it promoting “prestigious projects”?

“Comrades, this is not the time for extravagant government expenditure. We have called for financial discipline and we are setting the example ourselves. All Ministers and their Deputies operate strictly according to this code of conduct. In any case, we have no alternative to this prudent approach, given the pains and penalties prescribed for us in the constitution if we default.

“One of the achievements of the Administration has been my tour of our nine regions. First, the objective was to meet the people closely, listen to their problems, share their aspirations and explain our policies to them. Secondly, it was to visit factories, waterworks, mines, farms, hospitals, schools and numerous other establishments in order to attain a deeper insight into the problems plaguing the country.

“DURING THESE TOURS WE SAW THE EXTENT OF THE DAMAGE AND DESTRUCTION THAT HAD BEEN DONE IN THE PAST DECADE TO EVERYTHING THAT GHANAIANS HELD SACRED. THE MAGNIFICENT INFRASTRUCTURE LAID IN THE FIRST REPUBLIC UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF OSAGYEFO DR. KWAME NKRUMAH HAD BEEN DESTROYED BEYOND RECOGNITION.

“We cannot follow or rehabilitate the Osagyefo in the abstract. It must take the concrete, tangible form of the rehabilitation of this once enviable infrastructure. Theorists can describe this by any –ism, but this is part of what we must do and cannot shirk.

“Comrades, the tour of the regions, which involved party officials as well as Members of Parliament, has placed us in a unique position to know the real truth about the state of our economy and, therefore, to evolve realistic and practical solutions to these problems.

“I WOULD, HERE AND NOW, APPEAL TO ALL OF YOU TO REFUTE THE CHEAP CRITICISM THAT THE GOVERNMENT IS SLOW AND TO REJECT HASTY, ILL-DESIGNED PROPOSALS FROM SO-CALLED CRITICS WHO ARE NOT SINCERE, CONSTRUCTIVE AND IMPARTIAL. THEY ARE INDIVIDUALS WILLFULLY WEARING BLINKERS AND DELIBERATELY REFUSING TO FACE THE REALITIES OF OUR TIMES.

“They have not even found it necessary to go round the country and see things for themselves as we have tried to do. Indeed, no other party leader has, since the elections, toured the country to see the present state of our once viable projects.”

(Source: “Limann Speaks – ‘The Way Ahead’” – Exerpts Of Address By President Hilla Limann At The Annual Congress Of The People’s National Party (PNP) (May 29th to 1st June, 1980) at the Prempeh Assembly Hall, Kumasi – Page 9 – 12)