For How Long will J.J. Rawlings Terrorize Ghanaians?

Until He Kicks the Bucket?

There are quite bizarre incidents that have taken, and continue to take place in Ghana. There is one and only one strongman in Ghana. This self-styled strongman purports to know the architects of any heinous crime committed in Ghana and probably elsewhere. He knows who were, or, are behind the gruesome murders of a one-time thirty four women in Accra, and the decapitation of YA NA, and the murder of forty of his subjects. He wouldn't tell who the perpetrators are, unless he is passed through a Lie detector", or, he is taken before the renowned "Antoa Nyamaa" shrine. He is getting away with blue murder. He thinks to have solutions to all the ills of Ghana simply by activating his chattering box which is more powerful than any known FM radio station in Ghana. He commands a great audience in Ghana as many are his followers who are equally trigger happy to commit crimes with impunity. My dear reader, pause for a while to decipher the enigma of who this unique person is. Who is he?

The last time I checked he was punching the air shouting, "I have come back. I have come back", when the NDC's Professor Mills was declared the winner of the last general Presidential elections. He has come back indeed! He had all along anticipated the coming to power of President "Asomdwhene" Evans Fiifi Atta Mills. He had assumed him to be his pet poodle that can be toyed with at whim. Unfortunately for him and to his utter embarrassment, "Asomdwehene" has asserted his independence, distancing himself from the strangle-hold of Mr. Strongman. His Excellency, President Mills has proved all Ghanaians wrong by not allowing power-crazy J.J. Rawlings to tie a rope around his waist like a monkey to be pulled on to dance to the tune of his music/songs. Mr. Mills is not a gaga. He is not a Professor for over thirty years for nothing. He is his own man. He simply fooled Rawlings. He played on his intelligence with the assurance of being consulted 7/24 whereupon Rawlings thought of seeing his third coming to power through the deceitfully self-intended poodle. Fiifi deserves unremitting kudos for pulling a fast one on J.J. Rawlings who is now more frustrated than never before. I love my President Mills for always being reserved, fair, friendly but firm. He wouldn't make any "dede" (noise) to warrant a slap from Rawlings or be denied Rawlings' energetic campaign support overdosed with threats of raining fire and brimstone on Ghanaians were they to lose the elections. That cowardly intimidation indirectly played adversely on the intelligence of many, making some weaklings in the society vote for what looks like a mobster party, the NDC.

Former President Rawlings is losing self respect in tempo with the ticking of the clock. I once admired him not for his revolutionary murders but for his courageous assertiveness when on trial before a Military tribunal knowing very well that such a stance could cost him his life. Were his superiors then as unreasonable as he is today, he would be crispy bones in an unmarked grave by now. He is unreasonably acting a machismo, thinking Ghanaians are still living in those dark ages where he could chase everyone off the streets by simply barking out words. I am sure Mr. Rawlings needs medical assistance as his behaviour is way out of order. I see him as a cooking pot which though black as it is, turns round to tell the kettle you are too dark. What an insult! This is a man who presided over equally corrupt administrations for nineteen years. He has now the audacity to point fingers at others accusing them of corruption, theft, murders and all other ludicrous things that stream through his mind. What a shame!

I support the arrest of not only a corrupt politician but also any corrupt public servant. Anyone who has abused the public trust invested them by way of malfeasance has to be made to face the full rigours of the law. We should all be ready to alert the relevant government agencies to any acts of corruption in perpetration by a politician, a DCE or a public servant. We should not allow them to carry on with the infringement of official "419" on Ghanaians. Do we sit down while they do BURSARS on us? What do I mean by this? The Ghanaian bursars are known to cleverly alter figures or arrange with merchants of all forms and shapes to dupe their institutions and or, the nation. They can arrange to get invoices for items not purchased at all or they can connive to get such figures inflated way off the actual price to pocket the difference thereof by way of sharing it with the connivers. Let us all volunteer information leading to the arrest of any corrupt politician, DCE, or a public servant.

Mr. Rawlings' intimadatory behaviour can only be explained away as someone seemingly suffering from an Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Whatever he sternly says or preaches nowadays is taken with a pinch of salt by the intelligent people in the Ghanaian society. He appears to be losing the plot on daily basis. How can he coerce President Atta Mills to create jobs by way of sacking any NPP employee to replace them by NDC guys? Does his warped philosophy not amount to the proverbial "Robbing Peter to pay Paul?" He wants Atta Mills to create jobs on one hand while losing them on another. Are the NDC fanatics more Ghanaian than others? Mr. Rawlings, please do give us a break from what may seem as insanity in manifestation. How can one hide behind a falsified "Indemnity and No Accountability Clause" and still feels comfortably strong and genuine? To me he is a coward, what the British call as "yellow back". This once respected man has something to hide or else, he wouldn't conduct himself as irresponsibly as he is doing now. He is always ranting, insulting Mr. "Sexy eyes" J.A. Kufuor. If he wasn't, he is haranguing the NPP or castigating Mr. President, "Asomedwehene" Evans Fiifi Atta Mills. What sort of character is this so-called Junior Jesus who is always subjecting himself to unnecessary hyperventilation caused by self-inflicted evil-mindedness? Don't please shove him away with the hand as done to a nuisance housefly, or drive him away with a whiff, but help him out of this dismal attitude which is actually some form of sickness. He really needs our help.

Our adorable Barrack Obama, the President of the USA, rightly hit the nail in the head when delivering his parliamentary speech to the nation while on visit to Ghana recently. He said something like, one is not a strongman when he stages a coup d'état, changes the Constitution by writing in clauses to suit him, and then proceeds to intimidate his compatriots. That to Obama is corruption, cowardice, or daylight robbery at its highest. Silence, they say, is wisdom. Instead of being always vociferously livid, Mr. Rawlings must learn from today onwards to be a subtle Statesman from whose fountain can overflow words and water of wisdom that many can drink and benefit from. For after all, he is not as unblemished as he portrays himself. He is equally as stained as the majority of the Ghanaian politicians who must be booed. But does the mischievous Strongman give a hoot? President Mills will be none the wiser after all the boomerangs of the supposed Junior Jesus who never saves lives but kills with his sharpened poisonous words.

Long live Ghana; long live the Republic.

Rockson Adofo, London