Boakye-Djan Begs Rawlings

Available information indicates that Major Boakye-Djan (rtd) virtually went on his knees and asked to be reconciled with his one-time pal, former President J.J Rawlings, when the former appeared before the National Democratic Congress (NDC) vetting committee in the Jaman South constituency in the Brong Ahafo region. Credible sources in the NDC said the retired army officer and spokesman of the erstwhile AFRC junta pleaded with the party gurus to lead him to reconcile with Mr Rawlings, the party�s founder, since according to him, he had twice tried to talk to Mr. Rawlings on phone, but the latter did not pick the calls. He said his text messages had also elicited no response from Mr Rawlings. When contacted on it, the aspiring parliamentarian said he would not comment on the issue. Maj. Boakye-Djan is reported to have told the members of the committee who vetted him in the Brong Ahafo regional capital, Sunyani, that he did his utmost best to get the personal mobile phone number of Flt. Lt. Rawlings from some people in the NDC, ostensibly to call and repair the seeming strained relationship between them but his calls were not answered. Maj. Boakye-Djan, who claims to be the founding father of the ruling party, having initially lambasted Mr Rawlings, said he would be more than glad if the NDC vetting team could help him to meet with Mr. Rawlings anytime anywhere. The NDC parliamentary aspirant has already started his campaign in the constituency, at least based on what he told DAILY GUIDE yesterday. A source that was present at the vetting disclosed that Maj. Boakye-Djan was more than willing now to meet personally with his former friend so that the two personalities whose relationship suffered a jolt some years ago, could smoke the peace pipe. Disclosing this information to DAILY GUIDE on condition of anonymity, the source said it was highly surprised about the sudden sober demeanour and soft talk of Boakye-Djan who is noted for attacking Mr. Rawlings without provocation. Maj. Boakye-Djan however refused to comment on the issue when contacted yesterday to ascertain its veracity or otherwise since according to him, he was on the field campaigning. Maj. Boakye-Djan is contesting the NDC Jaman South parliamentary primary. The party�s constitution demands that each interested contestant is supposed to be vetted and cleared by the vetting committee before he can take part in the polls. The former coup hero, according to the source, was given a hectic time as he was grilled by the committee which, afterwards, cleared him to take part in the polls after he was able to produce his party card which was issued to him on June 3, 2009. The source said the vetting committee centered their questions on his relationship with the NDC founder, Mr. Rawlings. The committee particularly questioned him for publicly lambasting the 31st December Revolution which was led by Rawlings. Major Boakye-Djan insisted that most of the vetting committee members were young when the 31st December revolution took place so they would not understand him better if he tried to explain his stance on the junta to them. He maintained that Mr. Rawlings, who was a key figure during the coup d��tat, would be the person to understand him better, reiterating his call on members to help him to meet the NDC founder. Major Djan told the committee that he joined the NDC on June 3, 2009, noting that he had a reason for joining the party on that day and that he would explain it later. Meanwhile, DAILY GUIDE gathered that the old major is highly tipped to win the Jaman South NDC primary as he has an upper hand over his competitor who is in the US. Major Djan contested the Jaman South constituency seat as an independent candidate in 2008 but he failed to make an impact in the polls. He, however, hopes that by joining the NDC, he could do better now. The seat is currently being occupied by the NPP.