The daughter of the late president, Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings, Zanetor Rawlings, has urged the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to rid itself of any residual “demons” in order to win the impending 2024 elections. Zanetor Rawlings, a lawmaker, emphasised the need for the NDC, which she described as the result of the revolution, to undergo a careful self-examination when she gave a fervent speech at a church in Cape Coast on June 3 to mark the beginning of the 44th-anniversary commemoration of the June 4 Revolution.
She emphasised that any harmful influences that may have slowly crept in over time must be removed from the celebration. “If the NDC is to rescue this country by 2024, we must clear ourselves of any demon that entered while we were not paying attention,” Zanetor Rawlings declared, encouraging her party members to reflect on their conduct and align themselves with the June 4 Uprising’s values. The arrest and prosecution of Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings and other junior military officers by the leadership of the Supreme Military Council II (SMC II) prompted the June 4 Revolution, also known as the June 4th Uprising. Following a failed coup attempt on May 15, 1979, the former president and his colleagues were charged with mutiny.
During his trial, Jerry John Rawlings offered a variety of reasons for the failed rebellion. He emphasised the denial of pay to junior military commanders, pervasive corruption among Supreme Military Council officials, bad governance, economic challenges, and general populist dissatisfaction. Furthermore, he cited indiscipline within the Ghana Army as a crucial contributing element to the revolt.
The demand by Zanetor Rawlings for the NDC to exorcise its demons reflects the spirit of the June 4 Revolution, which attempted to confront these issues and bring about constructive change in the party.
Former National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Kofi Portuphy has asked Ghanaians to plead with President Akufo-Addo to forgive him. According to the former National Chairman who is now bedridden, he spearheaded the unleashing of so many lies against and spiritual machinations against then candidate Akufo-Addo.
He further claims the NDC and John Mahama have failed to honor the promises made to the Spiritual men who were leading them ahead of elections 2016 and hence, him as the leader of the NDC during those period is being hit by the implications.
Wife of Mr.Kofi Portuphy revealed that upon visiting a church somewhere in December last year, it was revealed to them that the only way his husband, Kofi Portuphy would be healed is to be wholeheartedly and genuinely forgiven by President Akufo-Addo. She however said all attempts to reach President Akufo-Addo has proven futile hence their decision to come public.
The family has urged the general public to come to their aid in seeking for forgiveness from Prez Akufo-Addo.
The former president John Dramani Mahama has been urged by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to stop lying to Ghanaians about his record while in office because “the facts show otherwise.” The General Secretary of the NPP, John Boadu, responded to Mahama’s recent claim that President Nana Akufo-Addo is hiding behind Covid-19 to overspend by saying that the 2020 candidate for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is out of touch with post-Covid-19 governance.
John Dramani Mahama
“Much as John Mahama seeks re-election on a campaign platform of ‘going back’ to the IMF, he attempts to confuse history by painting a rosy picture of his disastrous management of the Ghanaian economy between 2012 and 2016. Indeed, he put the economy in free fall after extremely reckless expenditure in excess of some GHS12 billion in pursuit of election victory in 2012. “His economy, under Seth Terkper, never recovered, leading to unheard of taxation measures on condoms and cutlasses,” Boadu said. He further stated that, “This period of economic mismanagement was characterised by rising inflation and declining growth, with growth sharply declining from 14% in 2011 to 3.9% in 2016. John Mahama claimed that this rapid decline occurred during typical “bust and boom” periods. Falling commodity prices, which, in accordance with former President Mahama’s boom and bust analysis, are typical for every administration, were the worst economic crisis he ever experienced. However, he was unable to maintain the economy’s stability.
“He just does not get it,” Boadu said on Covid-19. President Akufo-Addo succinctly stated for the world to take note of and follow that the foundation of all economic modelling worldwide is Covid-19 and the ability to preserve lives and then livelihoods. “Moreover, the Akufo-Addo administration has faced the worst ever international crisis in Covid-19, a scourge that has depreciated the worldwide economy and driven debt up generally. John Mahama’s lack of understanding of the Covid-19 economy is positively dangerous for Ghana because it badly skews his feeble attempts at analysis of our current economic situation. The IMF, to which he trumpets we should go to, has certified our economy as one of the fastest growing in terms of Covid-19 economic rebound.
“Mahama put together a Covid-19 advisory team. Covid-19 is not over yet. Where is the advisory team announced to applause and pageantry? Nowhere to be found. For the information of former President Mahama, Covid-19 is not only a matter of health. It has fundamentally become an economic imperative.” Boadu added that Mahama would have made a mistake if he had been in office when Covid occurred.
What would Mahama have done differently in that situation? What are his options, and where are they? Alternative financial and management strategies for Covid-19? He lacks a strategy because he is unaware of and unwilling to acknowledge that Covid-19 has a significant impact on the economy. What strategy did the former president Mahama employ to obtain vaccines? What is his replacement for maintaining school opening hours, which he and his party fiercely criticised just over a year ago? What are the Mahama alternatives to the policies in the cocoa industry that have led to a record-breaking output of cocoa beans? “Indeed, what is John Mahama’s alternative to anything, apart from the IMF? If you are the alternative, then spell out your alternatives to the Ghanaian people now. He is asking for a dialogue on the economy. There are many fora available for such a dialogue but he needs to put forward his plan.
Anybody can and has the right to criticise. But we expect a man who has been Vice President, head of the NDC’s economic management team and subsequently President and insistently bidding to become President again, to offer tangible alternatives, capable of feasibility testing, instead of just criticising. What is your plan? What is your vision for growing Ghana?” Furthermore, he said Mahama “actively oversaw the worst crisis ever to hit our financial sector, negligence that has cost over GHS21 billions of public resources to correct. Meanwhile, he turned judgement debt payments into a cottage industry.”
Former Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Koku Anyidoho, has charged former President John Mahama with spreading false information about his emoluments. He added that according to the records, the state pays for a former president to take two holidays each year when he travels for official business abroad. I’m in charge of paying my own water and electricity bills, says Mahama Mahama was very clear in a recent interview with TV3 about the specific costs and expenses he has personally borne since leaving office.
Koko Anyidoho, Former dep. GS of the NDC
The Bono Regional Chairman of the NPP, Kwame Baffoe, also known as Abronye DC, claimed that an ex gratia payment of GH14 million was made into his ADB account in the year 2013; however, Mahama made ten points stating that this claim is an “absolute lie.” He stated that the Controller and Accountant General only paid him his salary arrears, totaling GHC 230,000, in 2013. He also mentioned that the point raised by the ruling NPP’s Bono Regional Chairman that he has received privileges and perks totaling GH15 million since leaving office in 2017 is “absolutely false.” And that as a former President, he only receives a monthly pension.
Mahama stated that he pays his electricity and water bills for his household and office, that he lives in his accommodation and that the State does not pay him for accommodation, and that the State has not given him an office. And he pays for office space in Accra’s East Cantonments. He went on to say that he pays for his fuel, his domestic staff, his medical bills, and his air tickets as well as his assistants whenever he travels. However, Koku Anyidoho disagreed, claiming that Mahama is spreading lies by claiming that he pays for his own services despite being entitled to the emoluments.
Anyidoho stated in a series of tweets, “John Dramani Mahama is whining and telling lies about his emoluments.” According to documents, the state pays when an ex-President travels abroad on official business; he is also entitled to two vacation days per year. So, if you go on your own to have fun, why should the government pay? “As John Dramani Mahama continues to complain about his emoluments, I ask: What did you do for the late President Atta-Mills, John Dramani Mahama?” The man who created you as a running mate and vice president in order for you to become President.”
