Mrs. Rawlings asks bank to deny or confirm allegations

EX-PRESIDENT Jerry John Rawlings has hinted in a telephone interview with a radio station in Takoradi that his wife, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, has officially written to the foreign bank where she is alleged to have stashed millions of dollars to come out and deny or confirm the allegation, as a matter of urgency.

According to ex-President Rawlings, his wife also attached a copy of the newspaper which published the allegation to the letter that she sent to the bank, but did not mention the name of the bank.

He told his host, Dr. Akofa Segbefia, that though the story which was carried in the Crusading Guide newspaper was a blatant lie calculated to tarnish the image of his family, they have nevertheless taken the necessary steps to clear their name.

According to him, he has, in most cases, refused to comment on what he described as blatant lies being peddled in some of the newspapers about him and his family to boost their sales, but they have taken steps to disprove this bribery allegation because if they fail, the public might think it is true.
Touching on the call on him to stop making inflammatory public statements, ex-President Rawlings said he would not stop, "either today or tomorrow" because he is also a citizen of Ghana and, therefore, qualifies to enjoy the freedom of speech which is enshrined in the 1992 Constitution.
According to him, he cannot stop making public statements when worst things are going on in the country. He specifically mentioned corruption which, he asserted, he fought against but has now gone out of hand.
He, however, regretted that anytime he tries to point out some of the shortcomings of the government, its spin-doctors get to work, deliberately misinforming and dis-informing the public.
He reiterated that the NDC, of which he is the founder, will surely use the 2004 elections to overthrow the NPP government through the ballot box, adding that already there are clear signs that the NPP will lose the next elections, hence the panic reactions it has resorted to.
"They have always been telling lies, a situation which has been compelling me to also come out to tell the truth," he added.
Asked whether if the NDC wins the 2004 elections, as he has been predicting, it will witch-hunt NPP members, he said the party has no such intention, but would rather allow justice to prevail.
On how he sees the performance of the media, ex-President Rawlings said some of them are doing a great job, especially the radio stations and some of the newspapers but was quick to add that the media as a whole would be doing a great disservice to this country if personnel allowed themselves to be cowed by the government.
The ex-President confirmed Ghanaians' worst fears that the relationship between him and his successor, John Agyekum Kufuor, has taken a nose-dive.
Mr. Rawlings, however, blamed the worsening relationship not on any omissions or commissions of the incumbent president, but on Presidential Affairs and Information Minister, Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, and former Security Advisor, Lt. General (Rtd) Joshua Hamidu.
Rawlings had been asked by the presenter to comment on his relationship with the current President and his own party national chairman, Dr. Yaw Obed Asamoah.
He started his answer with, "I have met President Kufuor three times." The first meeting, he continued, went on fruitfully but the second and third fell far below expectation.
The worsened relationship, he firmly blamed on the behaviour of Gen.Hamidu, who once sat with him on the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), and Obetsebi-Lamptey, the man he has several times criticised.
When he turned to tackle the Obed Asamoah bit of the question, however, he surprised his host and listeners by saying he bears his chairman no grudge, whatsoever.
He even went on to suggest collaboration between them, saying their focus is now to work together to build their great heritage into a winsome party by 2004.
When asked to comment on the government directives to him to return state vehicles in his possession, he said he had already asked his personal aide, Mr. Victor Smith, to react to the letter.
He said though he is ex-Head of State, hardly does he enjoy the privileges that he is supposed to, as directed by the relevant laws.
According to him he has not even been using the vehicles in question because some of them are not roadworthy.