Just when the limb-severing boulders of intrigue regarding a possible internal coup by Nana Konadu Rawlings were being lifted by connoisseurs and political analysts to give Ghanaians the opportunity to catch their collective breath, we have been assaulted – almost immediately – by news that a faceless, shameless group within the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has peremptorily ordered Nana Konadu Rawlings to seek the highest public office in the land in 2012, or face its wrath! Led by a coward calling himself Amamu – it is a crafty one-name ploy to evade arrest – this hoodlum and his acolytes would threaten the former First Lady: “Mrs. Rawlings and her family would have to pack … and leave the country if [Mrs. Rawlings made] a decision contrary to [our] wishes” (Ghanaweb.com, 2010). And these infractors are still free men today?
The aforementioned news item – it was sourced to Citifmonline.com – describing the nihilistic and anarchistic utterances of this nameless political group, which is ostensibly goading former First Lady Nana Konadu Rawlings to seek the Ghanaian presidency in 2012, must not be dismissed simply as the work of nonentities. If the group has the willful backing of certain powerful people, its activities could eventually plunge the NDC – and the country – into chaos. The security forces must therefore go to work immediately to unravel the mystery behind the group’s infernal call to action. Then again, why were Amamu and his cohorts not picked up in the studio by police, not unlike the citizen who accused Jerry Rawlings of arson, since they were clearly inciting the population?
The fairly recent brouhaha regarding the campaign posters, insignias and other paraphernalia touting a possible run by Nana Konadu Rawlings against the sitting president, John Atta Mills, for the right to represent the NDC in Election 2012 will not go away until such time that Mrs. Rawlings addressed the rumors. In the interim, would it be accurate to conclude that the propounders of the theory that the National Patriotic Party (NPP) was behind those campaign posters were wrong after all, since Amamu has accepted full responsibility for the posters and insignias? According to Coward Amamu, “We are going to push [Nana Konadu Rawlings] to run because we have printed her T-Shirts, posters and banners” (Ghanaweb.com, 2010). The former First Lady’s continuing silence over the matter is, necessarily, being construed as complicity or admission of guilt, so she must act quickly to confound her detractors and restore some semblance of dignity to her name, if, indeed, she has nothing to do with Coward Amamu’s group.
If President Mills truly understands what it takes to keep the peace, then he needs to launch an investigation immediately into this matter and effect the arrest of these popinjays and thugs for threatening the lives of the former First Family – unless the former First Lady is in on the plot, too. We must hold back judgment at this time, although Mrs. Rawlings must, for the sake of her own credibility, address the matter quickly, as mentioned earlier – and she must also tell Ghanaians whether or not she is affiliated with Amamu’s group, which is determined to lawlessly propel her candidacy for president of the republic.
The aforementioned faceless group, whose activities must not be allowed to fester and cause dissension in the larger society, could not be any different from other pressure groups, except for the simple fact that its leaders have threatened the lives of the former First Couple, which Jerry Rawlings will not find comical under normal circumstances. In fact, I cannot wait to read online the response of the former soldier, putschist and democratically elected leader, and to evaluate his opinions on the threat to his life by Amamu and his henchmen!
Coward Amamu and his misguided friends are either imbecilic characters with a poor understanding of how the law works, or they are people being propped up by some powerful men and women who have promised to shield these thugs from possible arrest and prosecution. With armed robbery now a veritable menace under President Mills, the last thing Ghanaians want is a group that goes around threatening the lives of citizens.
Finally, when was someone ever forced to contest a country’s presidency? And when is it lawful for a chthonic group to threaten to attack and destroy someone’s political career, just because he or she refuses to accede to that group’s request to seek the nation’s highest public office? Do these troglodytes think that we are living in the jungle? While such an outrageous statement from Coward Amamu and his henchmen may sit well with megalomaniacal and power-hungry characters, good and responsible citizens would be alarmed by such blatant disregard for the law, which only reminds us of the past, a not-so-distant past – when jurisprudence existed in word only; and citizens who offended those in power disappeared in the middle of the night, never to be seen again. We must never allow anyone to take us back to those dark and inglorious days!
The writer, Daniel K. Pryce, holds a master’s degree in public administration from George Mason University, U.S.A. He is a member of the national honor society for public affairs and administration in the U.S.A. He can be reached at dpryce@cox.net.