Will Rawlings' Konongo Kaya born dog?

I have observed J. J Rawlings since May 15, 1979 though not probably as closely and as keenly as the likes of Kweku Baako and Gina Blay have. As casual as my observation has been, it did not stop me from coming to see the man as a living social contradiction.

Just think about it for a minute. Those who hate him do so with a passion whilst those who adore him do so even more passionately. What is more, those who hate him admit, at least privately, that they wished they had their own Rawlings whilst those who love him wished he was a different Rawlings! What a man!

I do not belong to any of these two extreme camps. I keep my distance from where I am able to objectively acknowledge his successes and take not of his failures. Some of the things I admire about him are however things which affirm his contradictory nature.

This is a man who is reputed for having very little tolerance for opposing views and yet he presided over the liberalization of the airwaves at a time when our neighbours were tightening their grip on the media under the watch of the likes of Eyadema and Abacha. For those who did not know, it was Rawlings who liberalized the Ghanaian airwaves. Whilst his critics will choose to remember him for the closure of Tarzan’s Radio Eye which started operations when the restrictive regime was still in force, I do remember him for his subsequent superintendence over the liberalization of the airwaves. It was under his watch that the then restrictive regulatory regime was changed to allow private radio stations to operate. Press freedom as we know it in Ghana today was thus actually started by no other than the JJ who is perceived by many as intolerant. Kufuor came to deepen the process with the repeal of the criminal libel law.

This is also a man who had, as a military ruler, said publicly on countless occasions that he did not believe in a democracy that was predicated on the ballot box. Guess what! He however once again contradicted himself by going ahead to preside over the drawing up of the 1992 fourth republican constitution and the subsequent transition from military rule to a democratic system anchored on the same universal adult suffrage that he detested. What is more, he has since been a vibrant and passionate participant in the democratic process, although it is quite obvious how discomforting it is to him. How many of us can participate in a process we abhor with the level of enthusiasm that Rawlings applies to his involvement in partisan politics? I hope you are beginning to see the contradiction he represents!

This man truly deserves more credit than he is ever given. This raises the question as to why nobody gives him the credit he deserves for the roles he played in the development of both our press freedom and our current democratic dispensation. Is it because such a credit appears so inconsistent with his nature that doing so will disturb our psychological balance? He unfortunately ends up more remembered for the negative things which appear to be consistent with his nature than those noble things he did but which are difficult to reconcile with his profile.

This brings me to the event that marked the 31st anniversary of the JUNE 4th uprising recently in Tamale and the matters arising therefrom. I heard the live broadcast of J J’s address on Citi FM. I heard the Konongo Kaya metaphor and his reference to Obama’s victory in the US and how a lady almost became the president of the US, all because of that country’s tenacity in upholding Freedom and Justice. I was then battling with the Accra traffic on the evening of a wet Friday. There was therefore no way I could see the Konadu for 2012 tee shirts in far away Tamale. I was however lucky to listen to Kofi Adams in a follow up radio interview after JJ’s speech in which he eulogized the political credentials of Nana Konadu and tacitly advertised her as a most suitable candidate for 2012.

This is where I think the Rawlingses seem to be pushing their luck too far. Before the 2008 elections, I told my friends about what impact an NDC victory would have on Ghana. I was of the view that an NDC victory would have a more positive and dramatic effect on Ghana’s democratic ratings in the international community than would an NPP victory. I can say without any fear of contradiction that this has come to pass, with Obama’s visit being the most eloquent testimony to that effect. My second view was that the resurrection of NDC on the governance stage will be the beginning of the end of Rawlings’ personal influence on Ghana’s politics. The Konadu for 2012 agenda seems to me as the perfect catalyst that will speed up the political demise of the Rawlingses. She will get a most resounding beating that will smash JJ’s political aura and bring them to the painful but factual realization that their time is past and gone for good. I can then beat my chest and call myself a political prophet.

Before I forget, who told Rawlings that Ghanaians voted the NDC back into power only to provide Mills with an opportunity to jail the perceived corrupt officials of Kufuor’s regime? Many Ghanaians agree Mills is slow and Mills has himself acknowledged it by describing himself as slow but sure. Our beef with Mills is however not how slow he is in jailing Kufuor’s men but rather how slow he is in delivering on his better Ghana agenda. We are looking for better health care, better employment opportunities, better education, better utility services, better security for citizens, a more business friendly environment, a more vigorous fight against corruption, less acrimony in our body politic as well as equal opportunities for Ghanaians irrespective of political colour, religion or tribe. Corrupt officials – past, present and future ones - must be prosecuted with speed, I agree, but this should not be seen as the alpha and omega of government action or inaction. It will do the former president a lot of good to stop what appears to be an enemy centred approach to the pursuit of justice.

I don’t know who Rawlings had in mind when he talked about the Konongo Kaya in his June 4 speech. His story line however made it look like he was referring to President Mills. I can say with all the political savvy I can muster that if the Rawlingses truly go ahead with the Konadu for 2012 agenda, her contest in the primaries alone is enough to create the safest passage for Nana Addo to the jubilee house whilst Mills will prematurely join Rawlings in the hall of former presidents. That is the day we may find who the true Konongo Kaya is and probably who born dog!



Mathias Dorfe

mdorfe@hotmail.com