Local Government Minister in Jerry John Rawlings' government, Prof Kwamena Ahwoi, has described the former President as both a blessing and a curse in a book whose contents have generated controversy within the opposition party.

“He can be domineering, vindictive, and fearsome. The nearest analogy will be the Akan proverb about the bird ‘Santrofi’ or nightjar, in English, belonging to the family Caprimulgidae which proverb states that ‘Santrofi amoma, wokye no a, w’akye mmusuo; wo gyae no a, w’agyae adee’ loosely translated as ‘the nightjar bird, if you catch it, you have caught a curse; if you let it go, you have let go of something precious,’ Prof Ahwoi writes in the book.

In the over 300-page book, titled “Working with Rawlings,” Prof Ahwoi also said the founder of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) did not appear deep “philosophically and ideologically.”

The book chronicles Prof Ahwoi’s 19 years working experience with the former President, their ups and downs before they “drifted apart.”

Aspects of the book have generated some harsh replies from some of the members of the opposition NDC cited in its contents, all of them denying allegations made against them in the book.

Apart from Mr Rawlings, Dr Edward Omane Boamah, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa and Felix Ofosu Kwakye, who have all been mentioned in the book, have denied claims made in the book about them.

The Volta Region Chairman of the NDC, Dan Abodakpi, has also jumped to the defence of Mr Rawlings, calling out Mr Ahwoi for attempting a smear campaign against the former leader of the party.

Mr Abodakpi said in a statement that if it was the objective of Prof Ahwoi, who served as Minister for Local Government and Rural Development from 1990 to 2001, during the reign of Mr Rawlings, to destroy Mr Rawlings’ reputation, then “he is simply wasting his time.”

Although Prof Ahwoi describes Mr Rawlings as “a born leader” in the book launched recently, he adds also that his former boss was “dominating, mesmerising and nearly hypnotising for first-time listeners and audiences.”

“Once he is your friend, he would like his enemies to be your enemies and therefore if you keep him, you would be keeping a curse as his enemies will become your enemies,” he said about Mr Rawlings.

Meanwhile, Political Marketing Strategist, Dr Kobby Mensah, has said the badly timed release of the book could sway the NDC’s focus from the crucial December elections.

He has urged the NDC leadership to move in quickly and quell the simmering tension the book is whipping up.