Mills Ministers Thieves

FORMER PRESIDENT Jerry John Rawlings on Saturday used the 32nd anniversary of the June 4 uprising held in Kumasi to slam certain selfish and unpatriotic ministers of state and appointees in the Atta Mills administration, who, he claimed, are looting state resources with virtually every part of their bodies. According to Mr. Rawlings, who did not mention names, some top government officials in the Mills-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration were stealing state resources to enrich themselves at the detriment of the ordinary Ghanaian who voted them into power. The NDC founder lamented that these �looters� were spared the injustices that key members of the NDC, including himself and his wife, endured during NPP�s eight-year reign, but they were now taking hold of government and illegally stealing state resources. �Certain leadership of this government who were spared NPP persecutions and have jumped into the driving seat, have not also decided to leave all the injustices intact, but have gone beyond it to dip their hands and feet into resources that would make them financial creators and breakers of the political will of the people.� Sounding irked about the deplorable state and lack of effective leadership in the NDC administration that has paved the way for government officials to allegedly loot state resources, Mr. Rawlings added, �And this is all happening at the expense of stable, noble human beings�. �There are too many mean-spirited things going on that I don�t want to waste time talking about now. The indecent distortions that have been sown into our party are alien to us,� Mr. Rawlings openly cried. The (P)NDC, he observed, �believed and showed respect and trust for one another�. According to the former president, the NDC as a party believed in the rights and convictions of the individual and therefore asked what had suddenly happened to the values of the great party. Thousands of people from diverse backgrounds converged on the Jubilee Park just to listen to his words. The huge crowd that graced the occasion displayed their deep love for Mr. Rawlings even before he could start his speech which highlighted the rot in the Mills administration, as they chanted his name and sang the revolutionary tune �JJ do something before you die.� Mr. Rawlings, who seemed touched by the �JJ do something before you die� praises which lasted a while, retorted, �This is the signature tune of the revolutionary spirit and I hope they are listening,� in apparent reference to President Mills and his cohort. The NDC leader, who displayed a grim face at this moment, disclosed how some elements of the NDC discriminated against Nana Konadu during her tenure as the party�s First Vice chairperson. He told President Mills and his close associates to blame themselves for what had brought about a contest between Nana Konadu and the president, saying, �If they had acted good, we would not have been here.� Mr. Rawlings debunked speculations that he supported Prof. Mills all those years with the intention of making it easier for his dear wife, Nana Konadu, to ascend the highest seat of the land. Touching on the upcoming NDC Congress at Sunyani to select a flagbearer for the party, he explained that Nana Konadu, who he described as his �double sweetheart�, was contesting the flagbearership of the NDC to rescue the party and fortify it for younger generations to take over. Nana Konadu, according to Rawlings, was not contesting the NDC presidential seat for prestige, but rather for the grassroots of the party that had been forsaken, so they would have a say. Mr. Rawlings therefore implored true NDC faithful to storm the Sunyani congress in their numbers and watch to avoid rigging of the elections �so that the true winner would emerge�. He reiterated his earlier warnings that the NDC was on the brink of losing power to the NPP in 2012, but was quick to give a message of hope to the party�s membership that if the government did things right, at least the party could retain power in the next polls.