Former First Lady Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings has found herself in a spot of bother. Following the decision by Caridem Development Company Limited, a company she helped set up, to institute an action in the High Court in Accra against the Government of Ghana and the Divestiture Implementation Committee (DIC) on April 4, 2004; she has now found herself facing criminal charges in another court. In this exclusive interview with London-based Africa Week magazine, she explains her position on the saga

Described by many as an influential person in the life of former President Jerry Rawlings, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings arouses conflicting passions. The 31st December Women’s Movement, a non-governmental organisation she established in 1982, which is devoted to the emancipation of the women of Ghana in the social, economic, cultural and political spheres is arguably one of the most effective women’s organisations in the country. But others see the movement differently.

The organisation’s decision to diversify its operations by way of looking for other sources of funding to promote its aspirations to achieve emancipation of women at every level of development in Ghana through the incorporation of Caridem Development Company Limited in June 1993 to engage in commercial activities for profits which would then be used to fund its projects, has now landed the former first lady in trouble.

The company is now the subject of both a civil lawsuit in one court and a criminal case in another which Mrs Rawlings believes is all part of a grand scheme by the current administration to humiliate her personally and also to cripple her organisation and activities.

“I have not done anything wrong at all, but I am also not surprised by the way things have turned out now”, a relaxed Mrs Rawlings told Africa Week.

According to her, it is just disturbing that people should read politics into laudable activities of individuals who are also contributing to the overall goals of government.

“The 31st December Women’s Movement is not only for NDC activists and that is what some people have failed to acknowledge. The movement has helped many Ghanaians and continues to make an impact in some rural areas where the government has failed to address their needs. We have a micro-finance scheme, training and other economic activities for women and children including educational projects that have gone a long way to address the crippling poverty of this country. I was therefore shocked that when the current government came into power, a decision was made not to assign trained teachers to the organisation. This was wrong and very disturbing. At the end of the day, it is the poor that would suffer because as it is very obvious, governments cannot solve all the problems of a country. I feel it was all part of the government’s desire to collapse the organisation”, she added.

“I have been involved in a number of fund raising activities both for the movement and the country as a whole. We have raised money for a number of projects in this country including 10 mobile clinics. We raised money for the two main hospitals in the country, including the cancer unit of Korle Bu Teaching Hospital. We do not do these things with politics in mind. We do them because we all need to contribute to the development of this country. We have early childhood learning centres across the country and these are not caring for only NDC children! We want to give the children a good basic training and believe me, our centres are doing very well, despite all the frustrations and impediments deliberately put in our way”, she added.

So with all these laudable initiatives, why has the former first lady and Caridem, a company that was expected to generate money to fund the NGO landed in court?

“We have been in court since 2001 when Sherry Ayittey who works for this movement was brought under intense investigations. In fact, since this government came to power, we have become victims of our own selfless approach to help fight poverty in this country. Can you imagine that the first letter we received when the Kufuor administration came to power was from the National Security Co-ordinator Joshua Hamidu about audit into our activities? It was after that letter that we started receiving all kinds of letters, as if our organisation had nothing to offer Ghana. How sad, and how could we be so politically myopic?” “The current “criminal” case is about the divestiture of the GIHOC Cannery Company Limited. Left to me alone, Mr Otabil, I don’t need the cannery, but it was a decision that was taken with the view to help the women, most of whom were involved in agricultural produce, find markets for their products. Sometime in May 1993, we realised as an NGO that our usual sources of financing, being contributions from members and donations from other sources could no longer sustain our activities. We incorporated Caridem as a commercial wing to raise money for the NGO. It was when the Divestiture Implementation Committee advertised for sale by competitive bidding, the defunct food processing company situated at Nsawam in the Eastern Region that we saw an opportunity to add value to the produce of our members. In fact, we were very sceptical at first. This was a factory that had been idle for years prior to the advertisement for sale. As far as I am aware, seven companies, including Caridem were involved in the bidding process. On October 21 1994, the bid opened and Caridem’s bid of 2, 789, 846, 000 cedis was adjudged the best, and the DIC duly informed us about their decision to give us the cannery. In fact, even at that time, we were still not sure about the viability of this whole project given the state of the factory and what was really required to bring it to a very efficient level of operation. By a letter of January 16, 1995, DIC made a formal offer to Caridem to sell to it the cannery at the bid price of 2,789,846, 000 cedis. We have done everything by the book and we have followed all necessary procedures. Our problems started only after we had finished paying the whole amount and approached the government for the release of the title of ownership to the property”, Mrs Rawlings explained. In an affidavit by Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings the fourth accused for herself and on behalf of the others, the former first lady, included most of the correspondence between her outfit and the DIC showing in clear terms the transaction details. In fact, it was very clear that even when Mrs Rawlings’ party was in power, she was still having problems with the DIC for the release of the title of ownership to the property. So what does she think of all the talk of her using her influence to acquire state property?

“This is what beats my imagination. If that was the case, we would not have been in court by now. It was the government’s refusal to release the legal title to the property that persuaded us to seek legal redress. You see, I wouldn’t like to bore you with so much details but what I would say is that Caridem instituted a case against the Government of Ghana and the DIC in the High Court for the purchase of the cannery to be regularised and that all assets and the premises as per the Asset Sale and Purchase Agreement dated October 5, 2000 transferred to us, including all instruments of transfer in respect of all the premises of the cannery. We also wanted damages for breach of contract. In fact, this civil case had been ongoing and I must also say that along the line, there were other counter-claims also. But, in the process, this “criminal” case was brought against us that we have failed to pay interest on an outstanding amount on the purchase as well!” she explained. In actual fact, the said outstanding amount, according to documents made available to Africa Week was in respect of shares held on behalf of the Government of Ghana to protect its interest in the asset, should Caridem default in making payment for the whole purchase price.

Relying on the agreement, Caridem by a letter dated February 8, 2001 enclosing a payment order in the sum of 1, 319, 930, 400 cedis paid off the remainder of the purchase, for which a receipt was issued by DIC. So if that was the case, why then would the Government prosecute Caridem and some of those involved in the execution of the transaction?

“I would like to repeat to you Mr Otabil, that there was no wrongdoing here. The DIC boss at the time, Mr Emmanuel Agbodo until this case, was not someone I had had any personal dealing with. I must stress here that one of the first acts of the current Auditor General, Edward Dua Agyeman, when he was appointed into office in acting capacity was to commence investigations into everything relating to the NGO. In fact, on September 21, 2001, he sent us a letter about investigations into the activities of NGOs. To date, the Auditor General has not investigated any other NGO. This letter was followed by another, dated August 21, 2002, addressed to Caridem, stating that it was investigating the divestiture of the Cannery, and requested for Caridem’s audited accounts from 1994. This whole thing smacks of witch-hunting because you could clearly see that in the approach that was adopted”. Mrs Rawlings explained.

So how has the court case affected her activities and that of the organisation? “Every legal process is disruptive,” she told me. “I would have liked to use my energy in a more profitable way because there are other activities I could have engaged in to help Ghanaians even if not all Ghanaians appreciate my efforts. But here I am fighting an unnecessary case in the courts. This is unnecessary because it should not have come to this point at all. If you have a problem with a divested company like ours, we could have resolved it in the High Court because we had actually taken an action which the Government could have contested there. Why would the same case now be brought in another court as a criminal case if the whole idea is not to frustrate the legal process that we have initiated? I wouldn’t say I am disappointed in the process, because all across the country everyone would testify to the work of the 31st December Women’s Movement and how we have helped the grassroots. This is obviously something that would make your opponents uncomfortable so I am not naïve to think that we were going to be on a roller coaster with the new government. But also, I never thought they would also be so politically myopic in their dealings with us”, she stressed. According to the former first lady, she is not going to sit back and allow things to get out of hand. “I am very grateful to my husband (former President Rawlings) because he was very strict on our activities and ensured that we operated like any other NGO. We did not abuse our position in the way some people are behaving now. We kept our records very well and because we are very much aware of what some people in government today can do to us, we have duplicated every document and kept them at other places. We don’t want to have a situation whereby we would lose documents through fire or any other means. People can break into our offices at anytime and do away with documents. But we will still have more to produce another day! This has been our nature because we are an NGO and we believe that our activities are relevant to every Ghanaian. It was therefore in our interest to do the right thing at all times”, Mrs Rawlings explained.

Certainly, having been around the former President through the turbulent years in Ghana, Nana Konadu is not battle-shy. Looking very relaxed, it was clear that she had done her homework well, and thus very conscious of the sort of environment her “movement” is operating in now.

“31st December Women’s Movement is still relevant. Just like any other NGO, not everyone would join. So, we don’t expect every one to join. We have some of our members who have been appointed by the current government in key municipal activities in some rural areas. I would say we also contributed to their personal development! We should not be blacklisted because of who we are. We all have a role to play in Ghana and that is what we have done. For anyone who does not agree with us, it is their problem, not ours. We will continue our activities”, she concluded.