Did Rawlings live by his own principles of probity... Kwame Jantua asks

A leading member of the Conventions Peoples Party (CPP), Kwame Jantua, has cautioned former President Rawlings and his wife, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, to be mindful of their utterances or risk being relegated to political oblivion. He said the former first couple has failed to appreciate the fact that their control over the country and the NDC has waned because the structures have outgrown them. Speaking on Radio XYZ 93.1 FM�s current affairs programme, The Analyst, on Saturday, Mr Jantua said: �[Rawlings] is nearing a point of extinction� He had some credibility but he is gradually eroding that credibility. Ghanaians will get to a point where they will say [we are tired of you[.� According to him, the former president does not have the moral right to allege corruption and thievery against members of government and that Mr. Rawlings falls flat in the face of his own much touted principles of probity, transparency and accountability. �Can we say President Rawlings stuck to the probity and accountability principle when he was in power?� Mr Jantua said, adding the divestiture of state companies such as the Nsawam company under Mr Rawlings� regime was shrouded in secrecy and controversy. �I really do not think that President Rawlings, as a coup maker, has the moral right to come and stand and do the things he is doing�. When he came to power what did he have in terms of property? �He cannot take Ghanaians for granted... Do the Rawlingses think Ghana is their property? We are sick and tired of the ranting of former President Rawlings. What is it that President Mills has done,� he asked. He said the injustices meted out to former government officials in the 1970s and 80s show how Mr Rawlings himself failed to meet the tenets of his own principles. �How many people were thrown in jail without trial? The eight military generals who were killed, did they have fair trials?... Where is the transparency, where is the accountability and where is the probity in that?� he queried. Mr. Jantua averred that Mr. Rawlings is peeved because after foisting President Mills on the NDC, he has now realized that his former number two man is not a puppet. He said Mr. Rawlings should do an introspection to find out why individuals such as Tsatsu Tsikata, P.V. Obeng, Kwame Peprah and others who were one-time his close pals, are nowhere to be found around him. On his part, Philip London, a member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) who was also on the programme said the NDC is crying wolf over Mr Rawlings� utterances because they are at the receiving end. He said when Mr. Rawlings was making similar comments against the NPP, he was hailed by leading members of the party as a hero. According to him, Mr. Rawlings has not changed and that he must not be ill-treated for raising concerns that are of concern to many people in the country. He added that from all indications, the NDC and the Rawlingses will part ways any time soon. �It is clear that from the way things are going .Mr. Rawlings is so dissatisfied with what is going on in the party.� He however cautioned the NDC against writing off the former president saying, �anybody who considers [Rawlings] as an individual is making a mistake.� Meanwhile, Lawyer Abraham Amaliba, who was also a panelist on The Analyst said, the NDC must begin to strategize for the future. �The NDC should begin to look at life beyond former President Rawlings. It is now clear that we are going into 2012 elections without him.� Lawyer Amaliba said �the party is outgrowing him and that is what he has failed to realize,� and that this is a �classic case of how the mighty have fallen.� He stated that the NDC has lost and won elections with the support of the former president in the past and that going into the 2012 elections without him should not be much of a problem for the party. Lawyer Amaliba therefore urged the leadership of the NDC to concentrate on how to win the election and stop focusing on appeasing the Rawlingses. �The battle lines are that former President Rawlings is not going to be on the campaign trail. Nobody is larger than the NDC and we can soldier on without former President Rawlings.�