Businessman and sympathizer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Alfred Agbesi Woyome has said there is the need to protect the Fourth Republican Democracy that was started by the late former President Jerry John Rawlings.

He told TV3’s Komla Adom after filing past the remains of Mr Rawlings at the Accra International Conference Centre on Monday, January 25 that fellow compatriots paid the ultimate price in order to build this democracy. Hence, he said, the need to sustain it by “behaving well.”

“The late former President Rawlings e was the father of the Fourth Republic, the father of our modern democracy and stability."

“He has done his part and we have to keep it going...we must not lose this democracy, we must behave well. It should last hundreds of years to come. The price for the achievement of this stability is too much to be thrown aside."

“We must behave according to the constitution and June 4th and June 5th lessons. The constitution was gazetted on June 5th and it says power to the people,” he said.

For his part, Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Boamah Otokunor, has noted that the NDC, a party formed by the late Former President Rawlings was excluded from the organization of the funeral of the late former President.

He said the ongoing ceremony would have been better organized if the NDC had been involved in the planning by the government.

Mr. Otokunor told Komla Adom after filing past the remains of the former Ghanaian leader.

“Some of us are a reflection of what he stood for and so we are in deep sorrow, we are very sad. We think that the nation has lost greatly, some of us have lost very greatly."

“We are inspired and consolation in the fact that Rawlings left us something an unfinished business, an unfinished service to the nation which we have to continue."

“We would have wished to honour Rawlings in a better and greater, more friendly and inclusive way than what we have seen the government lead us to. There are few problems with family and government, and the government deliberately and consciously excluding the NDC, a political party that he founded.”