Rawlings' Office Denies Alleged Coup Plot

The Office of the former President has reacted to reports that Rawlings was planning a coup d’etat against the Kufuor government. It said the former President’s visit to Congo recently, was not to procure arms and ammunition to destabilize Ghana, but rather to seek support for ending the crisis in Cote d’Ivoire and other trouble shots in the sub region.

The Vanguard reported on Wednesday that the ex-President traveled to Congo recently to plot a coup d’etat. But the ex-President’s office which is blaming the story on the government has advised the Kufuor administration to concentrate on dealing with more pressing national issues, rather than go chasing Rawlings.

The Special Assistant to former President Rawlings, Victor Smith accused the NPP government of waging a campaign to “bad-mouth” Rawlings at any given opportunity. Describing the Vanguard story as a news plant, Mr Smith said “this is total nonsense, who wants a coup in Ghana today?”

He wondered why the paper did not bother to cross-check the story and asked: “if government did not plant a story in the Vanguard, could not it have the temerity to invite the paper’s editor, Osbert Lartey to cross-check the story since it bothered on national security? He said the onus of proof falls on the government because he believes that they who gave out the story to the newspaper to publish.