I will never leave Kufuor alone – Rawlings retorts

Former President Rawlings has explained why he keeps criticizing his colleague former President Kufuor at every opportunity: John Agyekum Kufuor was corrupt, an elections rigger and an “autocratic thief”.

It is therefore his (Rawlings’) responsibility to drive this message home otherwise former President Kufuor will use his ill-gotten wealth to redeem his image, the ‘boom-speaking’ President said.

Ex-President Rawlings was speaking to young people at the closing ceremony of International Youth Fellowship Volta camp at Adidome Senior High School in the Volta region.

The topic given to the guest speaker was “Peaceful Hearts and Transformed Youth for National Development”.

But Jerry Rawlings covered  several matters from his own sleepless nights, to the failings of late President Evans Atta Mills and to his vow not to allow Kufuor to also sleep.

“People keep saying that I should keep quiet on Kufuor. The day I keep quiet on Kufuor, his image will become whitewashed. And he will use that stolen corrupt wealth to determine the political destiny of this country; I will not! All I have is my integrity like you as young people.”

Election-rigging

Rawlings is always charged whenever he is talking about the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and John Kufuor.

“In 2004, make no mistake about it, they (NPP) didn’t win, they know it. But Mills did not react appropriately; the country had to suffer another four years. We won in 2008, these guys wanted to steal it again”,

Corruption

He said under the New Patriotic Party administration, Kufuor would not allow anybody to indulge in corruption except if it was going to benefit him, his close friends and family.

“He was sending signal that nobody was going to steal unless he, his family or friends or unless he gives you permission”.

He said Kufuor was so corrupt the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had to send a director Porter Goss to warn him “you better do something about corruption in your government otherwise you will be overthrown by a military coup and don’t expect the US to bail you out because the coup will be extremely popular”.

He said President Kufuor in an attempt to deal with corruption picked on innocent people including his wife Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings.

These, according to Rawlings, are reasons he would blame Mills for not dealing with President Kufuor after finally pushing the NPP out of office in 2008.

“In spite of his (Mills) holiness, his refusal to investigate and to deal with the crimes of the Kufuor regime is what led finally to the institutionalization of corruption in his country”

“When we won in 2008, the country was so poised to see that the injustices, the corruption and what nots was dealt with, in order to right the tree of justice. Mills refused to do it…Mills…Mills refused to do it. And that was the beginning of the true destruction of the moral fibre of this country”.

This failure of the late president is the cause of his sleepless nights to this date, the ex-President explained.

Former President Rawlings revealed despite seeking medical help from a hospital in South Africa, he still has sleepless nights.

Every medication has proved futile, he noted.

Other invited guests at the program were the Deputy Volta regional Minister Francis Ganyaglo, Deputy Youth and Sports Minister Joseph Yamin, and the Central Tongu MCE Mary Agbeyenu.