Despite being misrepresented and defamed by some personalities for all the wrong reasons, Former President Jerry John Rawlings has vowed to remain relentless in his ‘fight’ against corruption, deception and misconduct in leadership and governance in Ghana.
Rawlings got the crowd ‘charged’ when he took the stage Thursday at the 2nd Revolutionary Lecture Series to speak his mind on the many wrong speculations being circulated following comments he made about some corrupt deeds headlined by Former Presidents John Kufuor and John Mahama.
“I have so much on my chest, and you misrepresent me, you bastardise the truth, and people wonder, is this man crazy, and I have to apologise. It’s not over, What a misrepresentation, isn’t it sad?”.
He made comments during a courtesy call on the chiefs and people of Mepe in the North Tongu Constituency in the Volta Region to suggest that former President Kufuor, during his time, tried to sideline Ewes in the military and that ‘rogue’ Mahama had superintended the misappropriation and looting of lands he (Rawlings) personally negotiated for a project to be established at Volor in the North Tongu area.
The ‘boom’ man was widely criticized for his comments which he subsequently apologized for.
But speaking at the event ahead of the June 4 commemoration, Mr. Rawlings said he had been completely misrepresented by ‘babies with sharp teeth’ and ‘bastardized’ for having stood up for the truth.
He narrated how some 40 military officers selected for a regional recruitment process in the Volta Region were sabotaged by some persons in government and their certificates taken and given to other persons in another region, warranting their disqualification.
He also recounted how lands he identified and proposed were used to provide job avenues for the people of the Volta region were stolen and shared among some selfish and greedy individuals in power at the time.
“Many years ago, after we left office, the government attempted to regionalize recruitment. In the Volta Region, they went and recruited 40 people. When they registered their names, a little while later, every single one of them was sent, let me tell you what that was, they had employed 40 well qualified students, took their certificates and attached it to the certificates of certain illiterates in another region. That is what the babies with the sharp teeth should have said and not just the silly nonsense he put out which was meaningless, that nobody could understand.
“……….Mr. Klutse, discovered an attempt at some huge plantation by Ghadaffi’s people, somehow it didn’t work out and the land had been left and abandoned, he got in touch with me, I said let’s get in touch with the government so they can gather the famers and fisherfolk to plough it and cultivate something on it, it’s a shame that we should be in this community and something like this should be happening under our own government, go and read and see how the baby with the sharp tooth presented this story as well…., eventually, some people among them took it“, he said.
Rawlings was ‘angry’ about the endless efforts of some personalities to mar his reputation and how frantically they are trying to destroy every good value his administration has suffered to uphold.
“What’s a revolution? A revolution is an explosion against a system that exceeded it, so you don’t expect that system to love the revolt, they will do everything to dismantle it, just like they attempted to destroy the revolution, today or tomorrow, it will continue in very cunning ways”.
The Revolutionary Lecture Series is borne out of the experiences and philosophy of the former president, H.E. Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings and the revolutionary transition Ghana went through.
The Lecture Series draws revolutionary ideas and experiences from politics, Trade and industry, academia, gender, foreign and the global environment with the hope to create consciousness that will transform and shape the national Psyche, attitudes and behaviours.
The program under theme; “Revolutionary Economic Trends, Ghana in Focus: Past, Present and the future” came off Thursday May 31, at the National Theatre in Accra.
