JJ FIRES TONY AIDOO

Strained relationship! Flt Lt jerry John Rawlings (above) and Dr. Tony Aidoo.

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Wednesday December 19, 2012.

The relationship between former President Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings and Dr. Tony Aidoo appears to have hit rock bottom following the trading of invectives by the two persons.

Following an attack on the integrity of the former President earlier his office has hit back at Dr. Tony Aidoo in equal measure describing him as somebody whose actions were designed to please President John Mahama and court his favours.

Secretary to the Office of Mr. Rawlings said in a statement that the comments of Dr. Tony Aidoo who was a deputy Defence Minister under President Rawlings was calculated to cause disaffection between NDC faithful and the ex-President.

“At the meeting with AU Chairman, President Yayi Boni of Benin, the former President intimated that the just-ended elections were well-organised and comparable to the best anywhere in the world. The call for an investigation of the allegations by the NPP was to remove all doubts about an election that President Rawlings is convinced was credible.

“If President Rawlings had no confidence in the elections then why did he congratulate President Mahama and call on him to protect the ideals of the NDC?” Mr. Andoh questioned.

“Criticising Jerry Rawlings was a ruse used by many to win brownie points during the era of President Mills. We cannot continue like this under the President Mahama administration and expect the NDC to move forward.

What does Tony Aidoo have to fear over an investigation when he is convinced the NDC won on merit? And does a call for investigation mean the NPP is right?

We have had one of the best elections in the country since independence and we need to remove the pall of doubt completely so the NDC can manage this country with utmost confidence. 

If anyone has to examine his conscience, it is Dr Tony Aidoo. He has to justify and rationalise his baseless attacks on President Rawlings,” he added. 

Dr. Tony Aidoo hurled the first stone when he charged the former President to search his soul and examine his conscience and tell the truth.

“I am saying and I have said so before that it is about time that Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings actually search his soul and examine his conscience and tell the truth because what he has done to President Mills and the NDC is unforgiveable,” Dr. Aidoo who is the Head of Policy Research, Monitoring and Evaluation at the Presidency, yelled at an Accra-based radio station recently.

The former President’s crime was that he had called on the Electoral Commission not to take for granted the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) concerns raised in the just ended general elections.

When AU Chairman and President of Benin Yayi Boni visited the former President, he (Mr. Rawlings) said there was the need for investigations into the concerns being raised by the opposition but Dr. Tony Aidoo was incensed by the NDC founder’s use of the word ‘investigation’.

To him, the former President’s call for investigation created the impression that the Electoral Commission fixed the election in favour of the NDC.

“I am very sad that our own President Rawlings also had to say something to that effect that the activities of the EC must be investigated. There have been several elections that these little flaws and impediments have taken place but under the circumstance when you make statements that it must be investigated, it carries implications that the elections were deliberately mismanaged for the purpose of facilitating the victory (of the NDC)…it is very very irresponsible.”

“Many times people have asked me: What do you know that people do not know? I know a lot but I won’t say it. I am saying: Flt Lt JJ Rawlings should examine his soul and come out and tell the truth because you are hiding something from the Ghanaian people or the public and tell the truth and one day if you don’t come out and tell the people somebody will come out and seriously the little vestige and respect that people have for you will totally disappear.”

“I don’t know what Flt Lt JJ Rawlings has against the NDC. I don’t know…and it is not fair. For three years, give us the evidence of moral wrongdoing within the NDC and can I promise you I am ready to support you like I have supported you in the past 20 years.”