He was a childhood fascination for myself; and some of my age mates. We always told ourselves “you may not like Rawlings but whenever he is in the neighbourhood, you would definitely want to see him.”
He is, or more fittingly, he was a charismatic figure. He knew how to work the crowds. He knew what to say and how to say it. He had some passion in his belly which was a sign of authenticity. He was serious. But he was also funny.
The mention of the name Rawlings evokes three responses. There are those who love him to bits. In the eyes of these people, the country would have been in a terrible state but for him. And they always take the opportunity, when it presents itself, to sing praise songs in his honour.
Then there are those who hate him to the core. In their view, he is the worst thing to have happened to Ghana.
His critics start by pointing out to the numerous human rights abuses that took place under his regime, the so called “culture of silence” and the fact that he presided over an organisation which was supposed to be provisional but ended up lasting for 11 years.
And there are those who simply do not necessarily share any of these extreme emotions. I consider myself to be in that bracket.
I grew up being completely insulated from his politics. He was on the political scene long before I was born. And even when I was born, I might have been too young to comprehend the complexities of the politics of those times.
My earliest personal recollection of the man Rawlings was some few years before the 2000 elections. I admired him.
My respect for him went a notch higher after the elections when he bowed out gracefully (as there were seething fears that he may cling on to power).
Ever since then he has been in and out of the public space often making very controversial and not so presidential statements. And he needs to be reminded of that.
The more I think of his role in our politics, the more I think that he has failed to live up to the times. In other words, he has failed to reinvent himself as a politician and more importantly a statesman.
His story is very similar to that of Okonkwo in Chinua Achebe’s “Things fall apart”. Just like Okonkwo, he was a hero for a period. And then the times changed and he is struggling to assert his relevance.
Ever since leaving office, he has been on the moral high horse (which is not necessarily a bad thing). He has never taken responsibility for anything that happened under his reign. The problems and troubles of this country are attributable to everyone else but him.
In the eyes of Rawlings, He is the best thing that ever happened to this country. But after years of being called Junior Jesus, it should not come as so much of a surprise.
In the course of the week, there was a news item in which it was reported that Rawlings had said that the ex-presidents -John Agyekum Kufuor, John Evans Atta Mills and John Dramani Mahama were corrupt leaders. Of course, this is not new. What he failed to mention is that he also presided over a corrupt regime.
No one can say that he should not talk about corruption. He is entitled to. It is his constitutional right to do so. How he goes about it is however important.
To be frank, the self-righteousness being displayed by Jerry Rawlings is something many don’t buy into.
He did not understand for instance that the successor that he handpicked should at some point be independent of him. It was only when Mills proved to be more than just a piece of paper that can be pushed around that the rift between him and Rawlings became public.
He called him names that were unprintable. Then his battles with Kufuor. Once again, we see him riding high and far on his high horse. Then his battles with the current former President Mahama.
Rawlings must understand this. He can’t always be in the public space. He can’t always have things going his way. And the mere fact that things are not going his way does not in any way mean that the executor is wrong.
Leaders exist to support; promote, engage, share and not pontificate. I think it should be apparent to him by now that his antagonistic approach to genuine national issues and concerns is not helpful.
Frankly, he should focus on engaging more. His claim to fame should be concrete solutions and not “booms” as we are accustomed to.
Source: Samuel Alesu-Dordzi/ Daily Graphic
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Rawlings is a cri.mi.nal, period! The guy took a 5 million US dollar bribe and claimed it was just 2 million US dollars. This is the character that murdered others for having 2 toilets in the homes. He doesn't deserve to be alive.
When you finished reading the article and the comments, you end up asking how many intelligent people we have in Ghana today. This about answers why this country trails and stagnates and probably will for the next generation UNLESS something finetunes the situation.
JJ Rawlings is just waiting for another idiotic soldier to stage another misguided uprising in the army so he can be installed as the Chairman of PNDC-2 up so he can drag Ghana backwards again ; messa it will never happen AGAIN !!!!!!!
Hmmmmmmm good opinions expressed. But will the man changed???? He is probably going to be our next President after 16years of the current regime. One more taste at the seat of government will probably calm nerves so lets all help nurture agenda Jerry 4 Prez campaign!!!!
Rawlings is a lucky guy because upon circumstances surronding his regims and the corruptions, which took place under his watch, of which others were executed and he is still alife and has the audacity to criticize in the manner he does as if he is the only saint. Mind you those alleged corruptions heaped on other Heads of State had not been proven yet.If you consider the case of Katakyie Afrifa, who had at the time been democratically elected to represent his People in Parliment,was nevertheless killed and so deprived the People of Asante Mampong their democratic right, then Mr JJ should be treading very lightly. The Ghana International Airport still bears the Name of Kotoka as honor for the same course shared and fought by him and Katakyie. Now Mr Obed Asamoah ,a prominent Lawyer is telling us that JJ could not have been a Founder of the NDC neither, inferably, a leader of the Party on whose ticket he became a President. Is this act persuant to the Constitution.Could somebody come out to educate me about the Point Iam making here? And when did he resign from the Army.
The critique and suggestions by the writer of JJ Rawlings in this piece is too late neither is it here nor there; the fact is that JJ Rawlings does not understand when it is time for him to leave the scene and craft for himself a proper Ghanaian statesman because time have changed ; at his age of 70 years the man has always being consumed with hatred ; enviness ; tribalistic tendencies and failure to undersrand that we live in a small world in which history can judge an individual very harshly or kindly ;the man has lost his respect in society today besides people are questioning his credibility as a former President because of the sorry contracdiction in his own past and present existance ; he has tended to raise himself above the parapit and always claimed what he is not in society ;he claims to have captured the moral high ground in Ghanaian society and claims to be above everybody in stilling and murder but the facts of his own life does not show that ; he ordered the murder of people who have virtually done nothing ; Major Felli was killed for taking a loan ; Col Kotei was shot but for no reasons ; His cousins led by Kodzo Tsikata and Nana Konadu master minded the death of our three judges ; the same man vitually gave Nsawam Canary to his wife and sold most of the GNTC lands to his wife ; it is those like the writer who do not know the sad legacy of JJ Rawlings that attempt to rehabililate this loser in life because he has no respect any more amongst his peers ; the sad part is that he used this tribalist ideology to incite mostly ewes ;Gas and some fantes to create this hero woorship about him and his family ; nobody believes him any more besides he has lost his credibility in society and nobody listens to him anymore; JJ Rawlings is a sad relic of his himself hoping that thare will be another uprising to instal him as a leader because the man has never believed in democracy ; Ghanaians have come to realise that he was all but an empty casket full of FURY and RAGE in society .