Former military strong man and founder of the National Democratic Congress, Flt Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings, from all indications, continues to be an enigma. He is hard to read; no one can precisely diagnose the man’s character.
He frequently behaves like a loose canon making you wonder if he has lost his marbles. But he hasn’t. He knows exactly what he is doing. The former president has a well-orchestrated strategy of making outrageous statements all in an effort to get his message across.
Members of his own party have not been spared his vicious diatribes. He unreservedly heaps insults, publicly too, on those who have the temerity to cross his path. Former president John Mahama is a favorite target of his.
There are times when you just wish Mr. Rawlings would do what former presidents do best; retreat respectfully, your head held high to the sidelines, away from the public eye and contribute your quota whenever you are called upon. But not Mr. Rawlings who just loves to inject himself into national conversations without any prodding.
Granted some in the NDC have not been particularly gracious to the former strong man for all he has done to strengthen the party and make it a political powerhouse in Ghana and one of the two major political organizations in the country, his animosity is unprecedented and uncalled for, besides being unhealthy and destructive.
It was the disdain and scorn for his own party that drove him to do the unthinkable; openly and shamelessly throw his support behind Nana Akuffo Addo during the 2016 election campaign.
Rawlings political decision was unheard of. It is just not done in politics. It is a no, no for the principal creator of a political party to publicly endorse the leader of a rival party in a keenly contested race, was a huge betrayal and amounted to turning his back on his own children in their hour of need.
He never once campaigned for his party; instead, he was on record as speaking glowingly of the NPP, praising it for its integrity and its unwavering commitment to the nation’s development.
Rawlings suddenly morphed into a good friend of NANA. And, not unexpected, to date he has remained tight with the president, closing his eyes to the many scandals that have enveloped the NPP of late, even though he has had harsh words for the NDC on the same issue of corruption.
Given Mr. Rawlings continuous animosity towards the NDC —- on Monday, he tore into the young bucks in the party for insulting him, his wife and Mr Martin Amidu —– I wonder if he will ever be appeased — Anita Desoso apologized on behalf of the young members of the party Mr. Rawlings says have offended him.
But the fundamental question remains: will Mr. Rawlings let go of his inflated ego and sit down with other high ranking members of the party to find common ground and come up with solutions to the ongoing crisis? Your answer is as good as mine.
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