President at loggerheads with predecessor Rawlings

Rawlings' June 4th Speech: Audio


A row over former Ghanaian leader Jerry Rawling's political legacy has degenerated into a slanging match with the administration of his successor President John Kufuor.

The flashpoint in the growing row is Kufuor's attempt to drop the June 4 anniversary of the coup which brought Rawlings to power 22 years ago from the list of national holidays.

Rawlings, a former flight-lieutenant, ruled Ghana for 19 years. His party lost the presidential elections late last year and Kufuor took power in January.

The current administration regards Rawlings' 1979 rise to power as a coup d'etat which saw the deaths of many people, including the execution of eight senior military officers, two of them former heads of state.

On Monday Rawlings hit back as the political row escalated.

Speaking at a function celebrating his rise to power, carried live by a private radio station and re-broadcast on national television, Rawlings warned "the NPP (New Patriotic Party) government should not engage in acts that will divide Ghanaians and ultimately lead to a volcanic eruption".

He described presidential spokeswoman Elizabeth Ohene and foreign minister Hackman Owusu-Agyeman as "liars".

Rawlings repeatedly referred to president Kufuor dismissively as "that Kufuor".

The government's reaction was immediate and equally sharp.

"The government has no intention of descending into the gutter with him (Rawlings)," Ohene told AFP, before hurling a barb of her own.

"The manner in which he has spoken of the president leads me to think that he had a very poor education," the spokeswoman added, using the strong dialect word "dzimakpla" with the connotation of bad manners or bad parental upbringing.

"Rawlings is rather the liar," the foreign minister chimed in.

"I am prepared to face him anywhere,on any platform to debate on any issue.He must respect himself as an ex-President."

Kufuor Sunday approved a bill to drop the June 4 holiday of the coup that brought Rawlings to power.

The president set his seal on the proposal, which was formally forwarded by his New Patriotic Party on Friday, a government spokesman said.

Interior Minister Alhaji Malik Yakubu said the decision was taken because June 4 was an ignominious day in Ghana's history.

"June 4 was the coup d'etat and for there months there was mayhem which saw the deaths of many people, including the execution of eight senior military officers, two of them former heads of state.

"The celebration of June 4, we think, is an affront to democracy."

Rawlings' party has accused the new government of launching a witchhunt on its members and former government ministers and pressing false corruption charges against them.

"The Kufuor administration is just trying to divert attention from the inability to fulfil their election promises... They are not being fair to us. They are on a witch-hunt," said Rawlings just before leaving for the United States to receive an award.

"Businessmen will tell you that our government was the most transparent, and it is not true about all the allegations of corruption being made against us," Rawlings said

Rawlings served out two four-year terms, the limit imposed by a 1992 constitution ending his 11-year military dictatorship.

Two former ministers from the Rawlings regime as well as a former top presidential aide were among four people charged in a 21 million dollar rice scandal in Ghana over the weekend.

Former finance minister Kwame Peprah, former agriculture minister Ibrahim Adam, former presidential office chief Ato Dadzie and Samuel Dapaah, chief director of the agriculture ministry, were charged Saturday by the Serious Fraud Office.

Last month Rawlings' former deputy finance minister Victor Selormey was arrested but later released on bail after being questioned over the granting of a two million dollar credit facility.

Selormey was taken in for questioning over the alleged wrongful disbursement of the facility from the US Export-Import Bank, an independent agency that borrows from the US Treasury to finance imports and exports and to provide guarantees to US companies.

Kufuor, who took office in January, has vowed to eradicate corruption and punish those guilty of fiscal impropriety.