Rawlings and Kufuor wrangles outlive their times in office

ACCRA, Tuesday

Instead of leading the country to be united, out of power, Ghana’s former presidents Jerry Rawlings and his successor John Kufuor have displayed open hatred with the former using any platform he mounts to hit out at his successor.

The enmity between the two former heads of state has become a source of worry to elder statesmen and church leaders. Last year, a delegation of the Christian Council tried to mediate between the two politicians, but nothing came out it.

The latest show of hatred happened in Munich,  Germany when Mr Rawlings attacked Africa’s development partners for showing support to corrupt African leaders, and singled out Mr Kufuor as someone who would have hanged onto power if he had not been stopped by the Nigerian Government.

It is not clear when the open hatred between the two started. In the early 1980s during Mr Rawlings’ reign as chairman of the military regime, Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC), Mr Kufuor served as the minister of Local Government, but resigned within months. To date, he has not openly said why he resigned from his position.

Unpalatable’ comments

Mr Kufuor, who has, however, restrained himself from answering Mr Rawlings’ outburst, has finally come out and accused his predecessor as a liar over the latest claim that he wanted to rig last year’s election.

In a statement, Mr Kufuor said, he has taken exception to certain ‘unpalatable’ comments made by Mr Rawlings over the handling of last year’s presidential elections.

Mr Rawlings claimed in his address to a gathering of the Pan Africa Congress in Munich that, Nigeria’s President Umaru Yar’Adua stepped in to stop Mr Kufuor from going ahead with a planned attempt to rig the election.

“Try as the incumbent attempted to doctor the result, the people decided enough was enough and booted the New Patriotic Party out of power,” Mr Rawlings alleged.

But in a sharp response, Mr Kufuor, described Mr Rawlings’ claims as false adding that, he handed over power out of his own volition, and in accordance with results declared by the Electoral Commission.

Mr Kufuor said before the round of voting in the Tain Constituency, he caused to be issued, a statement asking all Ghanaians to accept whatever results that would be declared by the EC, adding that the announcement was without any promptings from any quarter whatsoever.

“All my life, I have been convinced that constitutional rule is the best form of rule for any nation. I have championed this course outside government and supported it even more while in government. Throughout my eight-year-rule as president, it never crossed my mind to extend my stay in office, even a day longer.

“It is therefore never true that I was forced or persuaded by anybody from anywhere to hand over power at the end of my term as I was constitutionally mandated to do,” Mr Kufuor added.

Mr Rawlings described the period between 1982 and 1992 when he was in power as “glorious” in his address Munich.