John Jerry Rawlings the former President was last Saturday, at a Volta Region durbar specifically at the 2014 Amu (brown rice) Festival of the chiefs and people of the Avatime Traditional Area at Avatime Gbadzeme. When he had the platform to talk, he acted his usual deviant culture. He did not impress me positively. Rather he reinforced the negative impressions I have about him: - that Rawlings is a bogus man, a tribalist of the first order, a pretender and mischievous person. All the records indicate that he only selects festivals in Volta Region to attend -- Hogbetsotso, Avetime Amu festival, North Tongu, Avalklasu, Kpandu, Aveyime Festivals or SAMANPIID in Upper East. He will never attend Kibi, Akropong, Aburi , Okwawuman, Akim Ohum, Koforidua, Sefwi, Denkyira, Twifu etc durbars or any of the festivals in Akanland. Of course, I must admit he has been attending Otumfuo’s Akwasidae festivals in Kumasi. It’s okay. Everyone has the right to select festivals they should attend.

Rawlings attended the Avetime Amu festival all right. But I observe that his address was distasteful. When he had the platform, he insulted and attacked Akan preachers, Bishop Daniel Obinim and Prophet Nicholas Osei, popularly known as ‘Kumchacha’, of misusing the name of God and exploiting the ignorance of their followers. According to him, some of the claims often made by Obinim and Kumchacha on TV are not real. Rawlings, therefore, asked managers of TV stations and the media to stop giving airtime to Kumchacha, Founder and Leader of the Heaven's Gate Ministries; and Obinim, Founder of the International Gods Way Church, to deceive the public. Make reference:-http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=334279&comment=0#com.

I hold that Rawlings is an unrepentant tribal jingoist who sees nothing good with other tribes especially Akans. It’s just like he is never restrained in any way when he wants to say anything nasty about Akans. He has the tendency to say it freely. That’s a great mark of disrespect to Akans. I will explain. I recall that Akan businessmen;- Addison, Appiah - Menka, the TATA man, Akoko Darku etc suffered under the stinking wicked hands of this same pretender Rawlings during his shameful revolution.

Now, at Avetime Amu festival, why did Rawlings not use any of the several of the bad preacherpersons from EWE as examples during his address, since he was talking in Eweland? Even why did he not condemn the several Ewe fetish priests and priestesses who have been equally exploiting the ignorance of the followers? Are the bad preacherpersons only Akans?

Rawlings choice of V. Region to launch unprovoked attacks on Akans is provocative and queer. Similarly, Rawlings would have looked queer if he had attended any Akan festival and used the platform to attack Ewe priests and priestesses.

If the shoes were on the other feet and Kufuor had attacked Ewe preachers or priests and priestess whilst addressing Akan chiefs in Akanland, there would have been uproar. Why is Rawlings just getting away with such provocative tendencies? I aver that Jerry Rawlings being a former Head of State, did not do well at all and I condemn him for targeting Akans when addressing Volta Chiefs in Eweland. So all the recklessness, waywardness and by-heart governance of incumbent President John Mahama, which has resulted in decimation of Ghana morally, spiritually, materially and culturally are lost in Rawlings’ mind to the extent that he could not speak against them at a traditional festival and rather attacked innocent men of God? Haaaaabaaa Rawlings!

So Ghana’s problems are now Bishop Daniel Obinim and Prophet Osei? Is it that these men of God are the new targets of Rawlings new revolution he is dreaming of? Rawlings is clearly confused and frustrated looking on helplessly as his NDC messes up gargantuanly under Mahama and his pick on Akan preachers is just a diversion and therefore unwarranted. Rawlings is a wicked divisionist who should be stopped.

John Yawose