No man should apologise for the truth – Rawlings

No man should apologise for telling the truth, former president Jerry John Rawlings has said.

In his view, people must rather apologise for “lying, stealing, for corrupt practices and doing evil things and not the other way round.”

Mr Rawlings, in a statement last week, apologised to former presidents John Agyekum Kufuor and John Mahama for describing them as “evil” and “rogue” men, respectively.

The former coup leader had said in a meeting he held with a delegation of chiefs and elders from Mepe in the Volta Region that if going to heaven meant sharing that palce with Mr Mahama and Mr Kufuor, then he was better off going to hell.

In a U-turn, however, Mr Rawlings issued a statement saying his office “wishes to inform the general public” that he had “taken due note of concerns raised over certain publications arising out of a meeting he held with a delegation of chiefs and elders from Mepe in the Volta Region last Tuesday”.

He said he “apologises to former presidents John Agyekum Kufuor and John Dramani Mahama for the choice of words” he used, which he deemed “inappropriate and withdraws them.”

But addressing a durbar to commemorate the 39th anniversary of the June 4 revolution in Accra on Monday, 4 June 2018, Mr Rawlings said: “No man must apologise for telling the truth. You must apologise for lying, for stealing, for corruption, for doing evil things and not the other way round. However, the story soon gets distorted and makes the situation bad that I have no choice but to render an apology for using harsh words.”