Rawlings, the prophet whose calls went unheeded

Folks, pass by John Jerry Rawlings founder of the NDC and you will spend the rest of your life searching for another modern day prophet that has been vilified and ignored by the very people he nurtured from political obscurity. Was it not Mr. Rawlings who was the first to go public about how strangers with no allegiance to the NDC have infiltrated the party? It was very convenient for the government dogs of war to rain insults at him in return. What are we seeing today, a party gradually on the back of a chariot into the wilderness of opposition. Guess who is trying to fastrack the pace of the chariot? An international conman whose lifestyle has very little to do with the ideology of the NDC.

Comrades, Godliness, sincerity and humility are virtues worth emulating anywhere in the world. But what is the point if these virtues cannot prevent criminals and their political protégés from stealing from the ordinary man. In fact the next time we go round the country to campaign on these virtues, we would be chased out by Ghanaians. Touch wood, but if the NDC should lose the elections this year, president Mills will be retiring with the unenviable record of the most honest but politically incompetent president this country has ever produced.

Rawlings created a system that efficiently served him for 19 years. You might dislike former president Kuffour, but he found ways to uproot the system that served Rawlings for 19 years. In replacement, he structured his government to enable him rule for eight years. Whether the eight years were profitable is a debate for another day but the point is he had his system. Fact of the matter is President Mills has neither a system nor a strategy. Good intentions and pious personality do not automatically translate into good governance.

Do you agree with Mr. Rawlings when he tells you he will not go down with this clueless administration? What about the fact that he has no message for the campaign trail? He was the first to question the quid pro quo approach of the mills administration towards perceived corrupt officials in the kuffour administration.He spoke of the inability of the government to take over the country, the sheer incompetence of the administration and growing corruption. His words some months ago loudly re-echo in my ears everyday. All this while, the NDC was in government but its opponents were in power.

How the ANC in South Africa yearns for Madiba to be strong just for a day so that he can turn things around with his magical touch. In contrast, we are sitting not only on an inspirational founder but by far the most charismatic politician Africa has seen from the last quarter of the 20th century. In 2012, NDC will be going to battle without their chief Talisman. But why should he join Betty Mould, Barton Oduro, Haruna Iddrissu, Ablakwa, ex Tettey kpoda in the same bus on a mission of survival which should have been a mission of conquest in the first place? Vilified and ostracized by the Awhois and their selfish and ungrateful bunch of time servers and hangers on, he has become a stranger in a party he founded.

Today, at best, we have a president that is misinformed every minute, ill-advised everyday and deliberately misdirected very second in order for thieving politicians and their cronies in the so called business world to have their way. I get more confused when I think of the fact that the alternative to the status quo will be a cataclysm .I panic at the thought of waking up early next year to realize that Gabby Otchere Darko is the new chief of staff,Atta Akyea the attorney general, Ken Ofori Atta the finance minister, Nana Yaa Ofori Atta the minister for information, Titus Glover the mayor of Accra, Keli Gadzekpo the ambassador to America,Ursula Owusu the minister of women and children, Nick Darko the Local government minister, Nana Asante Bediatuo the senior minister at the office of the president in charge of legal and constitutional affairs etc Back to reality. The current NDC government is no different from big brother Good luck’s empire next door. Both set up and controlled by faceless cabals for their own interest. One thing is certain, unless they both wake up to the realities of their time, they will be remembered one day as accidents of history.

Efo Korshie Djato, warm greetings from my dear aunt Daavi Abla in Hatorgodo.she says in case you get tired of the comedy of errors unfolding before your eyes in Accra, some yakayake and akpatogui tadi will do back home.

Kormi Afevi

kormiafevi@yahoo.com