Friends of the Rawlingses descend on lawyer Sam Okudzeto

Friends of the Rawlingses have advised veteran Lawyer, Sam Okudzeto to use his experience in life, to talk about more serious issues that have in recent times bedeviled the country than direct his arsenals at former President Jerry John Rawlings.

In a statement issued by the convener of the group Ibrahim Hardi, it observed that the recent attacks on the former President by the renowned lawyer are unwarranted and a recipe to resurrecting issues that are of no benefit to the Ghanaian society

“We hope that Lawyer Sam Okudzeto, as a senior fellow in the country, will use his experience in life, to talk about more serious issues that of late bedevilled our country. In this way, he will forever be remembered than resurrecting issues that are of no benefit to the Ghanaian society. No one can re-write the history of Jerry John Rawlings’ impact on our national politics. It is simply to significant to parry aside”, it stated.

Read full text of their release below

Don’t credit “Dictator” Rawlings with 4th republic - Rejoinder

By Friends of The Rawlingses

The above caption is purported to have been made by one of our senior citizens and a respected lawyer, Mr.Sam Okuzdeto, reported by ClassFMonline.com and published by ghanaweb, General News of Thursday, 9 Nov 2017.

First of all, we didn’t expect that Sam Okuzdeto, a senior citizen, will still stoop so low to downplay facts which every Ghanaian knows about former President Jerry John Rawlings role concerning the 4th Republic.

In his statement he mentioned that HE Jerry John Rawlings was forced to return the country to constitutional rule and therefore didn’t deserve credit for the 4th Republic. This is a statement that is not supported by empirical facts.

At the time, when Africa, especially neighbouring countries such as Liberia, Nigeria etc were all experiencing serial turmoil with back and forth coups, and ended up leaving these countries badly destroyed, President Jerry John Rawlings, instead of hanging on to power, which he could have chosen to do, rather returned the country to constitutional rule and put Ghana back to a path, which we today enjoy with uninterrupted change of power from one party to the other. Our country’s giant strides in economic transformation, peace and stable environment can all be traced back to the legacy HE Jerry John Rawlings left behind.

With all these milestones chalked, HE Jerry John Rawlings received accolades from leaders around the world and in Africa for key role in bringing Ghana back to the path of constitutional rule.

So for Lawyer Sam Okudzeto to get up and twist facts just to throw dust into the eyes of unsuspecting Ghanaians on issues they know about is bizarre.

Another charge he made was the one that talked about Adu Boahene. That Adu Boahene was cheated and Rawlings never won any election freely and genuinely when the two faced each other in the election 1992 is purely a propaganda gimmick and we will choose to laugh it off and brush it aside for Adu Boahene was no match for HE Jerry John Rawlings at the time.

The septuagenarian, went further that HE Jerry John Rawlings was below the par in leading the nation at the time of his rule, and didn’t merit to rule the country as he did. It is unbelievable to hear such uninformed statements coming from Okudjeto. Leadership goes beyond paperwork. It is about the wisdom and can-do traits. It encompasses vision and forward-looking attitude and with all these Jerry John Rawlings possesses in abundance.

We hope that Lawyer Sam Okudzeto, as a senior fellow in the country, will use his experience in life, to talk about more serious issues that of late bedevilled our country. In this way, he will forever be remembered than resurrecting issues that are of no benefit to the Ghanaian society. No one can re-write the history of Jerry John Rawlings’ impact on our national politics. It is simply to significant to parry aside.

Signed: Ibrahim Hardi,Spokesperson/convener