By Nana Kow Blankson

There were some issues which bothered around the speech delivered by JJ Rawlings at the NDC Special Congress held in Kumasi last week. In case you are not very careful, you may be deceived by the series of applauses Rawlings received at the congress and take things at facial level and probably conclude that whatever he said was good to be taken to the bank.

Rawlings went to the congress amidst uncertainties. The NDC initially announced that Rawlings was going to attend the congress only for Kofi Adams, his personal assistant to counter on the eve of the congress that it was a hoax that Rawlings will be attending the congress. But less than four hours after Kofi Adams has made those comments he beat a sudden retreat and stated that Rawlings will after all be attending the congress and that no one can stop him.

It is extremely important for the NDC members to note that the Special Congress was held just for one simple reason – to confirm the candidature of President John Mahama as the presidential candidate for the December 7 elections due to the sudden demise of President John Evans Atta Mills. It was therefore, not for nothing that glowing tributes and series of minute silences were observed in the memory of the late President Mills. But when Rawlings took the podium he made certain comments that need microscopic view in order to draw some analytical conclusions.

First off, Rawlings immediately hit the Kumasi Stadium running by telling everybody that he was able to let President John Mahama light the streets of a village which has been suffering from series of unsolved murders. If you let what Rawlings said pass without analyzing it you may be fooled into believing that he was praising President Mahama, but what Rawlings was telling everybody was that President Mahama unlike the late President John Atta Mills listens to him. And he also wanted to tell the NDC members that he is kind of back to his bossy attitude of coming up with a laundry list of demands and expecting everybody to fall for it. What President Mahama may have to watch out is he should never let Ghanaians especially floating voters to even have the impression that he is going to be at the beck and call of Rawlings.

Ghanaians voted the late President Mills to power in the 2008 elections after they became convinced that he was going to be his own man and not answerable to the series of demands by Rawlings. Therefore, I would urge President Mahama to walk that fine line otherwise he may alienate the floating voters who the NDC need very much to coast to victory in December.

Secondly, Rawlings never once mentioned the name of ex-President John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills during his long winding speech but sneaked in some biting comments to intentionally create the impression that the NDC was at war with him and his family. JJ Rawlings who still thinks that all should be about him and his family did not even get the courtesy to say in one sentence anything good about the late President Mills, but ended up disparaging him. Is it not strange for Rawlings not to mention the name of the late President Mills whose death led to the very special congress he addressed?

Thirdly, Rawlings got the nerve to ‘direct’ President Mahama to bring integrity to the presidency. What Rawlings was in fact telling President Mahama was that he inherited a presidency full of dishonest people, an outright show of disrespect to President Mills. But President Mahama was part of the late President Mills administration. It is on record that he played multiple important roles in the administration of Mills; therefore, if Rawlings is questioning the integrity of President Mills’, then he equally doubts that of President Mahama.

Currently littered in Ghana are giant billboards with pictures of the late President Mills and that of President Mahama with bold inscriptions that the vision of President Mills will be continued by President Mahama. Therefore, it does not make sense for Rawlings to doubt the integrity of the very man President Mahama wants to expound his vision. This is something I would like President Mahama and the NDC members to note.

Fourthly, I want to draw your attention to the fact that Rawlings went to the NDC congress in Kumasi in the company of Dr. Josiah Aryeh, the acting Chairman of the National Democratic Party (NDP). Even my nephew of 10 years can confirm that the NDP is linked to the Rawlingses with Nana Konadu actively and busily courting losers in the NDC parliamentary primaries with free vehicles and money to run on the ticket of the NDP. Why Rawlings came to the NDC congress in the company of the chairman of the NDP is to tell the NDC faithful that he has his two feet firmly planted in both the NDC and NDP. I am reliably informed by a close associate of JJ Rawlings that he has stated boldly that as far as the NDC and NDP are concerned he has a sway on both. And strangely enough, Dr. Aryeh failed to deliver any solidarity message from his so-called NDP which is suffering from hibernation. What somebody will then ask is what was Aryeh doing at the NDC congress if not to scout for Nana Konadu and the NDP?

Fifthly, Rawlings again ‘directed’ President Mahama to throw away the young NDC members with biting teeth. I would like to blare it out loud to Rawlings that everybody in the NDC matters no matter how small their contributions may be. And that it takes two to build a village. Therefore, Rawlings has no business to dictate to President Mahama who and who qualifies to be where they are. There may be young guys in the NDC who have grown teeth, but you do not see them going on air to use that teeth to spew disparaging and divisive comments about individuals in the NDC as he Rawlings has been doing all the time. Of course there may be young NDC guys with biting teeth, but they are not acting as evil invisible hands who are working feverishly behind the scenes to destroy Rawlings’ own legacy and the NDC as a whole.

Therefore, it is very laughable and disingenuous for Rawlings to tell President Mahama to get rid of the young guys in the NDC party with sharp teeth forgetting about the likes of Owusu Bempah who at every given turn insulted President Mills in the confines of Rawlings’ home up to the very day that President Mills died. If Rawlings in fact is looking for dishonest and dangerous people who should be shoved aside, he should look at his current inner circle of friends. My simple advice to Rawlings is: Remove the speck in your eyes before asking President Mahama to remove the log in his eyes. Clean your home first before daring to ask somebody to do otherwise!

The sixth issue I want to raise is that JJ Rawlings is very well known of never going to big NDC political events without Nana Konadu by his side. They go to such events together. Therefore, does it not look strange when Rawlings went to the special congress without Nana Konadu by his side? And it looked even more bizarre when Rawlings did not say anything about the no-show attitude of Nana Konadu. What the NDC members may have missed is that it would have been political suicidal for Nana Konadu to be seen by his so-called NDP supporters attending the NDC congress.

The seventh point is Rawlings calling for the recognition of some people who have served the NDC faithfully and for a long time. But I would like to remind Rawlings that when the history of the PNDC/NDC is written in gold ‘diamondic’ (my word) letters he would be remembered as someone who did not live up to this same recognition he is calling others to uphold.

During the time that Rawlings ruled Ghana, there were many people who sacrificed their education, work, family, friends and ego to serve him unconditionally. Rawlings should never ever think that he got to where he is now without the help of anybody. Only a fool will go that route. But due to the terrible traits of those surrounding Rawlings, he somehow believes he did it alone. For the purposes of record I would like to highlight on just one issue. Anybody who is well versed in Ghanaian politics will never deny the kind of bond that existed between Rawlings and Brigadier George Partington who served Rawlings so loyally. Today, Partington is gravely ill, but I would like to put it on record that Brigadier Partington has received not even a phone call from Rawlings or Nana Konadu let alone a visit. Such is the trait of Rawlings who is today calling for recognition of those who have served the party well.

The eighth point is on Rawlings’ reported attendance of the funeral of the late Ethiopian Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi in Addis Ababa where he paid a courtesy call on Zenawi’s wife. It is however important to let Ghanaians and the NDC members to know that Rawlings and his wife has not bothered to visit Mrs. Ernestina Naadu Mills since his husband, President Mills passed away. Yet, the late President Mills was the man who served Rawlings faithfully as a vice-president and the one who succeeded him as leader of the NDC.

The last issue that I would like my NDC colleagues to keep talking it over is why Rawlings did not endorse the candidature of President Mahama during his speech and vanished into thin air just when voting to confirm Mahama was about to start?

But I am happy that President Mahama in his speech told the NDC members that he has been in politics for a long time to know certain things which in fact does not make him a political novice. If what he said is any guide then I presume he would be able to read into everything that Rawlings said and stay clear out of his unnecessary demands. What President Mahama should know is that the very day he will say no to Rawlings will be the day Rawlings will put on his dirty gloves and attempt to turn him into a punching bag. Rawlings just came to the congress to test the waters. He does not want to leave the NDC but also does not want to incur the displeasure of Nana Konadu by sidelining the NDP, so Rawlings is looking to have it both ways.

If Rawlings has any memory he should have realized before, during and after the funeral of President Mills that the NDC family has concluded that it is ready to fly with or without him on the campaign trail. Therefore, nothing he says or does can change many NDC minds who see the Rawlingses today as an albatross surrounded by certain characters that are out there to destroy his legacy and that the NDC.

I will urge President Mahama to be seriously careful with Rawlings who has become a cunning politician with full of trashy tricks. Many floating voters will not forgive President Mahama in the polls if they see that he is pandering to the whims and caprices of Rawlings. This man Rawlings has nothing good for the NDC as far as his wife Nana Konadu’s NDP is around. He is just trying to use his last wild card, the NDP to dictate the pace for the NDC. President Mahama should not fall for that bait!

The Presidency or power is like a burning fire. It glows up to the highest point before the fire begins to subside. It continues till everything dies down and ashes then emerges. The Rawlingses had their days. It is now over with them! What they are finding it difficult to do is to adjust and move on for others with different governing style to use their God given talents and abilities to do what they want to do.

It is not too late for the Rawlingses to change, but I bet them that the NDC Zion Train can longer wait for characters whose only bargaining chip is, “Its Our Way Or The Highway”.

nkblankson@yahoo.com