Jerry John Rawlings? outbursts on Peace FM early this week in which he referred to President John Agyekum Kufuor as a disgrace to this nation, has met the fury of members of the Kpeshie New Patriotic Party (NPP) Task Force.

In a statement released exclusively to Chronicle on Saturday, the Task Force, now fondly called the ?Kpeshie Boys,? described Rawlings? outburst as maniacal. The Kpeshie Boys have also warned Dr Tony Aidoo that they would be pursuing him ?any time now,? intimating that it would be nastier than the treatment meted out to him by an unidentified goon early 2001 in traffic near the Fox Trap Night Club at Adabraka.

?After his boom speeches which some of the moderate and sober National Democratic Congress (NDC) king pins condemned, some of us thought the ex-President would learn to be more careful in his actions and pronouncements. Now that we know the man cannot be stopped or restrained, we will wade into the war, replying to every fire he spits and every punch he throws,? their statement made clear.

The NPP Kpeshie Task Force is made up of retired soldiers and police officers, media gurus, constituency money-bags and hard-nosed footsoldiers, most of whom were in the Volta Region to monitor the 2000 elections. ?We know Rawlings like a book, because he lived and worked with us in the Kpeshie (La, Teshie, Nungua). It is from here he took our brothers and cousins for his body guards and appointees, organised People?s Defence Committees (PDCs) and Committees for the Defence of the Revolution (CDRs).

?We had known him before June 4, through December 31st 1981 and his CDR, (P)NDC eras. The battle is joined and Jerry better be careful,? their statement warned.

The group believed Jerry John Rawlings was overstepping his bounds as former Head of State, hence the need to begin a ?jaw war? with him because of his incurable penchant for stirring controversy. They also intimated that they were ready to show Jerry and Tony Aidoo that they were out and out sons of the beach (no pun intended) if they thought they could mess with the nation.

The statement concluded by warning Jerry John Rawlings to start circumcising his tongue before the task force began to strike in ?crude and merciless terms.?