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Opinions of Sunday, 12 November 2006

Columnist: Nuviadenu, Kobla

Jerry Rawlings - The Moral Icon Of Our Time

Events as they have unfolded over the past three or so weeks seem to portray to me that the ex-president is somehow bitter. And can you begrudge him? If after wallowing in unchallenged echelons of power for close to twenty years, dinning and chit-chatting with the powers that be, and now finding yourself in the reverse position where you most of the time have to "boom" before your existence can be felt, my friend ino be easy oo!!! Credit the man with some conscience and pity him a little please!

I believe my moral icon's bitterness started when the sitting president failed to acknowledge his presence and that of his wife during the current president's first sessional address to parliament. Do you think it was fair? Not even a cursory acknowledgement? And the excuse-parliamentary protocol? To hell with that! Protocol such that an ex-president's presence cannot be acknowledged in parliament? Give me a break, please!!

If you were the former president who failed or refused to chastise your corrupt ministers and will, with ease, issue a white paper to shield them, what would have been your reaction if after handing over power you find some of them been hauled before courts, tried, convicted, and sentenced? You wanted him to shut up? Excuse me! You know the implications-that he condoned such acts? He should react in such manner to portray to people that such things did not exist and that even if they did exist, he was oblivious to them.

Do you sincerely and truly know what my icon and role model is capable of doing the way the current president and I do? I'm sure you don't. If you did, you wouldn't ask the president to shut up, provide evidence, or at best, take him to court. You’re sure he will testify? Remember the infamous "positive defiance" boom? And the calls for chemical lie detector before he would testify? Do we have one now?

If you were in the shoes of the president who has to contend with harbouring a serial coup maker (an avid and experienced one at that), who superintended a corrupt and atrocious regime where media houses were shit-bombed, journalists harassed, arrested and charged on obnoxious criminal libel and seditious laws, perceived boyfriends of daughters being handed "identification hair cuts", vice presidents and ministers being given dirty slaps, former presidents like Limann not being accorded the courtesies due them, inability to read ahead and prevent the Konkomba-Nanomba wars and failing to identify and prosecute those who fomented it, and a host of others, all in a democratic dispensation, who will not screw up his mouth and will attempt to provide you with tutorials on good governance and warn you that your failure to heed to him will result in what he knows to do perfectly, I wonder how you would have behaved.

A constitutionally elected and reigning president saying he doesn't believe in democracy and the ballot box, now out of office and making all these coup taunts, and my moral icon and his cohorts wants the president to think that 'JATO WON'T DO ANYTHING"? President Kuffuor, watch out oo, shine your eyes for Dr. BOOM Jerry John Rawlings is a walking contradiction. O.K!!!



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