By William
Yaw Owusu
Wednesday
May 30, 2018
Former President John Agyekum Kufuor has replied his
colleague former leader, Jerry John Rawlings, over what he described as very
damning and unpalatable comments the latter made recently.
He pointed out that he (Rawlings) is not God to
determine who should go to heaven and who should go to hell.
Mr. Rawlings, who was once a military ruler, had
called two of his successors, Mr. Kufuor and John Dramani Mahama, ‘evil’ and ‘rogue’
respectively at a meeting with some chiefs from the Volta Region.
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) founder
appeared to run down his immediate successor (Mr. Kufuor) and his own NDC party
member Mr. Mahama, in the presence of chiefs and elders from Mepe who had
called on him to formally invite him to the final funeral rites of Mamaga Awusi
Sreku II, queen mother of the Mepe Traditional Area.
Mr. Rawlings’ office later released a statement apologizing
to his former colleagues for his ‘inappropriate’ comments.
“The former President apologises to former
Presidents John Agyekum Kufuor and John Dramani Mahama for the choice of words.
He deems the words as inappropriate and withdraws them,” Kobina Andoh Amoakwa
of the Communications Directorate of the Office of Jerry John Rawlings, stated.
However, Mr. Kufuor has not taken issues lightly and
has responded equally to Mr. Rawlings’ utterances.
“The attention of former President John Agyekum
Kufuor has been drawn to the publication of a very damning and unpalatable
diatribe about him by former President Jerry John Rawlings and his (Rawlings’)
subsequent withdrawal and apology for same in the last few days,” Dr. Kwabena
Osei-Adubofour, Senior Aide to ex-President Kufuor, maintained in a statement
yesterday.
The statement indicated, “However, despite the fact that
President Kufuor accepts the apology, he wishes to make it clear that he has
never divested any state property to himself or his family members.
“All the divestiture of state properties and
enterprises that took place during his tenure in office was done legally and
according to laid-down procedures, rules and regulations, and to the utmost
benefit of the people of Ghana.”
The statement further stressed, “President Kufuor
never tried to unduly influence the promotion or appointment into the security
services, more so, based on tribe. Emphatically, in his government policies, he
never used tribalism in serving the regions and tribes of Ghana. As to Heaven,
it is only God, who decides who goes there or not.”
To another claim by Mr Rawlings, the statement
asserted, “Finally, as to the creation of the medal of the ‘Order of the Black
Star and Eagles of Ghana,’ President Kufuor believes that it’s the prerogative
of the president of the state to make such a creation; and he as such did so as
the exclusive title of presidents when they attain that unique office.
President Nkrumah had created all the others upon Ghana attaining independence.”
No comments:
Post a Comment