MRS. RAWLINGS: PLEASE LET BYGONES BE BYGONES!

The trouble about Ghanaian politics is that those who are supposed to give advice to the members of our political class, only tell them what they think they want to hear – otherwise why does someone as intelligent as Mr. Kofi Adams not tell Mr. and Mrs. Rawlings that it is vital that they support President Mills? How can any intelligent Ghanaian expect an intellectual of his calibre, elected into office as president, to be anyone’s puppet – when ultimately it is he who will be judged by history one day, for all that goes on during his tenure? With respect, as decent human beings, we must fair to even our enemies: Does President Mills not deserve the respect of all Ghanaians, for his integrity, if for nothing at all?
In the same vein, why do those who advice President Mills also not ensure that Mr. and Mrs. Rawlings are included in bringing about the better Ghana their National Democratic Congress (NDC) party promised Ghanaians? Do they not realize that it is counter-productive to marginalize a couple who were so important in the military regime that ruled Ghana for so many years after December 1981 - and for all the eight years the first NDC administration of President Rawlings was in power for: and have thus accumulated considerable political experience the Mills regime could benefit from? Surely, no savvy political operator, ever cuts his or her nose, merely to spite their face?

Whiles Mrs. Rawlings may be a world-class female African politician, the truth is that she will never win any open and fair election for president in the Ghana of today. Surely, even she must recognize that painful fact of life? On the other hand, there is no doubt that she will make a pretty good minister for employment and social welfare – so why does President Mills not give her that appointment: so that she can contribute positively to the NDC’s period in office? Why does he also not merge the ministry of information and that of communications – and put that other marginalized world-class NDC politician Dr. Spio- Garbrah in charge of that new ministry: and end the opposition New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) ability to set the political agenda in Ghana, to our nation’s detriment, with such ease?

Both factions of the NDC must understand that they need each other to win the 2012 elections – and that whiles they can count on the continued support of the “My-party-my-tribe-right-or-wrong” myrmidon-types who support political parties blindly (and whose foolish and egregious partisanship is slowly destroying our democracy!), they must never take the support of the independent-minded and patriotic individuals, whose swing-votes won their party the presidency during the run-off of the December 2008 presidential elections, for granted. Those discerning individuals chose to vote for H.E. Professor Mills because they believed that he would be an honest and fair-minded president.

With respect, and speaking humbly as an independent-minded Ghanaian, who loves his country passionately, whiles I admire Mrs. Rawlings enormously, given what I know about some of her business dealings in the past, I will not vote for her to become president of an oil-rich Ghana, anymore than I would for a President Kufuor-type of politician to rule Nkrumah’s Ghana again. I hope that Mrs. Rawlings and her husband will have the humility and the humanity to finally let bygones be bygones – and elect to start working with President Mills to help create a better Ghana for all of our people.

I also hope that President Mills will have the wisdom to invite both Mr. and Mrs. Rawlings to dinner, with him and his wife, from time to time. It will be good for all concerned – and for Mother Ghana above all. Mrs. Rawlings is a very intelligent woman. One hopes that she did learn some important lessons from her narrow escape from death when her home caught fire not too long ago: the incredible fragility of human existence, and the importance of compassion, in one's relatively short life on this earth. She must be large-hearted enough to let bygones be bygones – and do all she can to help President Mills bring about the better Ghana their party promised all Ghanaians. A word to the wise…


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