Rawlings behind me - Konadu

Former First Lady Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings has finally broken her silence over the issue of whether or not she has the blessings of her husband and former President Jerry John Rawlings in their quest to lead the National Democratic Party (NDP), a breakaway from the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

She called for a change of government, accusing the current government of corruption. Sources said Jerry Rawlings is set to join the NDP campaign, saying that his recent meeting with the Volta chiefs was only a dress rehearsal.

Nana Konadu told NDP faithful during her recent tour of parts of the Ashanti Region where she held a series of meeting with supporters of the newly formed party, that the 'old man' was only behind her and that there was no way she could be pursuing such a huge ambition without the express consent and knowledge of her husband.

The meeting seemed to have been held in a serene environment with birds chirping in the background.

Nana Konadu, the President of the 31st December Women Movement (DWM), an organisation that used to be a virtual women's wing of the NDC, wondered why some individuals and group of persons especially in the ruling NDC continued to go round telling people that her husband was against the idea and that she was the one influencing Mr. Rawlings to go against his own will.

“As I've been saying all the time; if you are a woman doing something and your husband says he doesn't like the idea so you should stop, you cannot continue and say no but will have stop”, she noted in an audio recording.

In view of this, Mrs. Rawlings said “when I hear people saying that he doesn't like the idea and that I am the one forcing him... look at my size” whilst asking rhetorically “if you look at my hand, can I force him?”

According to her, “even if it will take me to convince him, I will do it because he is one of the most astute politicians in Ghana. Even if it something that will create a problem, I still will so that if he thinks I am doing something that is wrong he will correct me immediately”.

She said a lot of people were confused when she arrived in Kumasi to meet NDP faithful.

Astound by the warm reception she was given while in the Ashanti Region, Mrs. Rawlings told the gathering “when I leave you, I know what I am going to say.

“Luckily for us, one man whose values never change is behind us”.

Corruption

Characteristic of her, Mrs. Rawlings spoke about the increasing level of corruption in the current government, describing it as “an indictment on his country”.

She stated that “it is an indictment on the people who lead us; it is a disgrace for us to make our children think that we come into politics to make money”.

She stressed the urgent need to inculcate a good habit in the youth of this country to bring them up in ways that would let them shun such corrupt tendencies.

She lamented that she and her husband had always seen politics as service to humanity and not an avenue to amass wealth.

That, according to her, was why they could not get money to personally rebuild their Ridge residence which got burnt two years ago. That was why government had to rebuild it for them.

“if these values can be restored, then, we must prepare ourselves because when we go into government, we will not allow corruption, lies and if you don't know about the work then bye-bye because you don't come into the job to come and learn”, Mrs. Rawlings noted.

“When we went to Mampong, I told them that if the corruption was stopped at the highest level, the police would stop taking bribes because they would even feel ashamed to ask for bribe since they would come to the realization that there was nobody doing so at the top”.

“That is the change that the NDP wants to bring for us to move forward. It is a shame that we think corruption is okay; because it is not. Since it has resulted in the poverty that has engulfed us; so let us change”, she told the party faithful.