Rawlings: I will not follow cowards to war

Founder of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Jerry John Rawlings has expressed shock at the cold reception given to himself and the wife at the just ended national delegates’ congress in Sunyani.

Jerry John Rawlings revealed his feelings to a group of concerned NDC supporters led by Ashanti Regional Secretary, Joseph Yammin, on Tuesday.

The group, which included Brogya Genfi, spokesperson for NDC youth in Ashanti and Mohammed Uthman, member of the Ashanti Regional youth working committee said they called on President Rawlings because of disturbing rumours that he was leaving the party in the aftermath of the Sunyani congress.

Brogya Gyamfi who briefed Xfm 95.1 about what transpired at the meeting, said the former President debunked the rumors.

According to him, Mr Rawlings stated emphatically that even though he continues to be part of the NDC, he has no plans of campaigning for the party’s 2012 Presidential candidate John Evans Mills ever again.

“I will not follow cowards to war because if you do, you will end up fighting alone because they will end up running and leaving you in the middle of the war”, Brogya Gyamfi quoted the former President as saying.

Speaking exclusively on XFM’s morning show on Wednesday July 13, 2011, Ernest Brogya said the former president explained that people have fought similar fights before and left the party and although he has no intentions of joining the campaign trail of its presidential candidate for the next general elections, there was no way he will ever leave the NDC as long as he remained its founder unless people decide to change the party’s constitution which gives him that power. He will also continue to offer his services to NDC as a party.

According to Brogya, the former president said his wife’s contest was to fight and bring back the power that belongs to the structures of the party.

Asked what the way forward for the NDC would be, Brogya was of the view that the party needs to be seen acting in a positive manner especially with regards to certain comments and the perceived agendas by some members to ‘get rid’ of the former president from the party in order to get him to rescind his decision not to campaign for President Mills in 2012.