... But Victor Smith says, ?Nyaho shut up?

A FOUNDING member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Nyaho-Nyaho Tamakloe, has accused the former president, Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings, of having an intention to destabilize the nation.

?I know this for a fact, since he left office. Since the NPP came to power there have been series of security breaches and utterances by him, but thank God that the security was very vigilant and dedicated to nip such actions in the bud,? he said.

Dr. Nyaho-Tamakloe, who was commenting on media reports about the recruitment of mercenaries for a coup in Ghana, stated that since this government knows the background of the former president as regards staging coups, and having learnt also from the past, all the intelligence reports should be treated with maximum decorum not to allow anybody to subvert the nation?s peace.

?This particular government knowing where it came from and having learnt from history, will take seriously any intelligence reports either from a newspaper or wherever it comes from,? he stated.

The NPP veteran politician, referring to disregard of intelligence reports in the era of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Dr. K. A. Busia and Dr. Hilla Limman, which resulted in their being topple from power, said, ?I totally disagreed with the editor of Liberian ?Analyst? newspaper that the advert was a hoax, after accepting to publish it and took the money for it. I am not an editor but I believe that before an advert is placed, one needs to check the authenticity of it before going to the press and that was why I totally disagreed with him,? he charged.

Urging the government and security agencies to be alert, he was of the view that the government would not take hoax explanation for granted but earnestly go into the nitty gritty of the matter to ensure that the nation was not plunged into anarchy and chaos.

According to Dr. Nyaho Tamakloe, it was taking intelligence reports for granted by the ex-presidents that led to the last three coups, indicating that, ?Let no one be deceived that Rawlings willingly handed over power to the new government, the NPP administration.?

He said Rawlings was compelled both internationally and internally and was made aware that any move by him to suppress the will of this country would create chaos.

?Even though, he was reluctant, he had no option or choice than to bow because he knows that he will one day somewhere along the line emerge to destabilize this country,? Nyaho alleged.

But Mr. Victor Smith, the Director of Public Affairs in the office of the ex-President, rubbished the assertions of the NPP guru, and called on him to concentrate on the lackadaisical performance of not only the Kufuor-led administration, but also that of thhe Ghana Football Association (GFA) he heads.

?What he was saying was rubbish. He should concentrate on Ghana football to ensure that Ghana wins some laurels rather than resorting to lies and deception about the former president.?

?He should shut up or better still talk about the lies of Mr. Hackman Owusu Agyemang and others. Look, instead of talking about football and the deceptions about your government, you will be telling lies. Rawlings is no threat to this nation and he has no intention whatsoever to stage a coup but I can assure you that come December the elephant will be booted out into the bush,? Smith said.

He indicated that the deception, the lies and the fabrications of Kufour-led government and its failure to keep faith with the electorate are the matters that threatened the security of the nation, but not the former president.

Bemoaning the the Interior minister?s suggestions that Rawlings has a sinister motive for a coup, Mr. Smith stated that it was rather unfortunate for the government to resort to giving a bad name to the former president and the National Democratic Congress instead of taking corrective measures about the abysmal performance in governance.

He continued, ?This is a minister of state making such frivolous statements or assertions with no basis. Look, this is to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it. The minister has lied for a sinister purpose, confirming a diabolical agenda of the president, Mr. Kufuor led government.?