By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The Editor-in-Chief of the 'New Crusading Guide' newspaper, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako Jnr. has asked President Mills and his administration to take immediate steps to stop former President Jerry John Rawlings in his tracks before he does the unthinkable.
By his recent utterances and actions, he believes that the former President, who has a record of staging coup d'etat' is undermining the authority of the sitting President and, therefore, he must be brought to order since his actions could have very serious implications for both the Mills administration and Ghana in entirety.
He was speaking in an exclusive interview with The Chronicle, in analyzing Rawlings' recent outburst in which he gave the sitting President six months to start prosecuting members of the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration, coupled with his supposed unannounced visit to the Air force base.
Though Rawlings did not categorically say what he would do after the six months has elapsed, his comments are severally deemed to be treacherous.
To Kweku, “what he is doing could provoke all sorts of fanatical reactions from his supporters” emphasizing that “there are some who see him as a demigod and they can create conditions that could lead to social upheaval and a Coup d' etat.”
As a person who makes heavy claims of having studied Rawlings for several years and being part of the country's politics since 1974, Kweku Baako said- “we should look at it carefully and I think Rawlings must be tamed, and the only way he can be tamed is when the sitting President exercises the constitutional authority that he has.”
Touching on Rawlings' visit to the Air force base, Kweku said “It is actually a challenge to authority, if indeed what you are telling me is true and he went there without prior notice”, he said, stressing that “if the President and the established authority continue to allow these things to take place because it is Rawlings, gradually, people will begin to doubt whether the real centre of authority is at the Castle or Ridge.”
For him, Ghana can do without him since Rawlings is a nuisance, and asked rhetorically “what is Rawlings trying to prove?” As an international statesman and a former head of state who also worked hard for Professor Mills to come to power, Mr. Baako noted that if Rawlings has any input to make in the administration of the country, he should do it in a more civilized and proper manner to make an impact.
According to him, this was exactly what Rawlings did to overthrow former President Dr. Hilla Limann from office.
However, he said, “but now I don't think he can do something similar, I don't believe the classical Coup d'etat approach is going to be visible in the current Ghanaian situation, but something worse could happen.”
On the issue of Rawlings having given Mills a period of six months to start prosecuting members of the NPP administration, the ace investigative Journalist noted that it only goes to feed into the perception that what President Mills will be doing would not be based on the rule of law but mere witch-hunting exercise.
That for him, is in sharp contrast with what the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mrs. Betty Mould-Iddrisu told a certain radio station recently, when she was asked about pace of possible prosecution and investigations of members of the previous administration.
She was against rushing the process and asked that government be given time to do proper investigations, after which if it is convinced of a prima facie case, it would proceed to the court.
“So ex-President Rawlings appears to be advocating some form of jungle justice, rather than the rule of law, but we must thank God that perhaps the former President and his Attorney-General do not share the same sentiments or mindset”, he stressed.
He added that “ to that extent, I think ex-President Rawlings as I keep saying is virtually now a licensed irritant, so we just have to perhaps accommodate him.”
According to him, what Rawlings is doing is more or less a source distraction for the government of the day, sowing seeds for crisis of confidence in the Presidential authority and sending conflicting signals to the international community as to who is in charge of the nation.