<<Print>>

Former President Jerry John Rawlings over the weekend commended Justice William Atuguba for being a good leader when he was president of the nine justices who presided over the 2012 election petition case at the Supreme Court. Speaking at a special congregation of the University of Development Studies, Saturday, where an honorary doctorate degree was conferred on him, former President Rawlings said: �The great Justice Atuguba�s brand of leadership on the bench helped to restore some of the image the judiciary had lost over the years. His ability to stamp his authority and expose the indiscipline that some of the parties in the case were exhibiting served as a greater complement to all the peace initiatives that we all lent a hand to�. However, contributing to a panel discussion on Peace FM's �Kokrokoo�, Monday, Atik Mohammed, policy analyst of the People�s National Convention (PNC) disagreed with the former President. Reflecting on proceedings that ensued during the election petition, he said; �I didn�t see any show of leadership�. �I did not know what he intended to achieve with what he said about Atuguba. He should have given us reasons because just being the president or leader of the judges does not mean that he was the best. I didn�t see any show of leadership and to say it at that particularly time (congregation), for me was unnecessary. It is misplaced especially to say that he exhibited some form of leadership�. He however, agreed with the former President�s assertion that President John Dramani Mahama is surrounded with �crookish monsters� and that there is the need to rid the presidency of them. At the same function former President Rawlings also indicated that �Both the good and the bad are around him (President Mahama). He�s unable to kick the bad ones away and I guess it�s because he doesn�t know about some of them and their nature�. According to Atik, some of the issues which have contributed to the bad economy the country is facing are as a result of some of the President�s appointees. He said President Mahama who was also at the congregation needs to take a critical look at the issues raised by the former President �and remove those that are redundant� �I agree with him that those around the president are not helping run the country the way it should be run. Even though I cannot use those same words to describe them, I can�t help but agree that the people in government need overhauling. It is not only those surrounding him but the entire government machinery; everything going on indicates that this government does not have the caliber of people supposed to occupy the positions they are currently holding�� he added.