 The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has asked former President Jerry John Rawlings to act like a statesman instead of always vilifying his fellow former President John Agyekum Kufuor.
In a statement released Thursday, the NPP said they “find it highly unbecoming, mischievous and provocative that Mr. Rawlings, a former military leader, later head of state, who should naturally be wearing the shoes of statesmanship….Mr Rawlings behaves and talks like an angel and a judge of humanity when his 19-year rule was inundated with atrocities and unbeatably dark days in the history of our country.”
Speaking as the Guest of Honour at the closing ceremony of the regional camp of the International Youth Fellowship at the Adidome Senior High School in the Volta Region, Ex-President Rawlings accused Mr Kufuor of stealing “massively” while in office between 2001 and 2008 and went further to describe him as an ‘autocratic thief’.
He swore never to stop reminding Ghanaians of former President Kufuor’s alleged corrupt nature as well as the manner in which he plundered state resources while in office.
In an interview on Citi FM eye witness news, Perry Okudjeto, Acting Director of Communication of NPP said he does not understand why at every opportunity, former President Rawlings “puts former President Kufuor on the carpet” reiterating, “we think he should thread the path of a statesman. Ghanaians are the only ones who can pass judgment on government.
“I don’t think President Rawlings among others who have run this country is the only one who has the authority to judge whether or not a government was corrupt. In as much as in the past we have decided to treat some of these statements with the contempt that it deserves, we have to set the records straight. If we don’t it will go down in history…Former President Kufuor is not a saint but it is not former President Rawlings who is a judge of what we do as humans” he added.
In response to the NPP on Citi FM, spokesperson of former President Rawlings, Kofi Adams says being a statesman does not mean ‘you sit down for the wrong to be done without talking about it’.
He said instead of playing partisan politics and reacting angrily to what his boss said, NPP as well as every Ghanaian should rather help him (Rawlings) in exposing the rot in past administrations.
“A statesman does not mean one who sits down while the wrong thing is done. President Rawlings is ready to fight corruption; are we ready to support him or we are going to continue our regular partisan way of handling issues. I don’t think he has really committed any wrong” he pointed out. |
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(Selorm) | 
(Nana Kwesi)