Godfather

Ato Kwamena writes

?The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?? ? Jeremiah 17:9. That man is innately evil cannot be questioned. It is only the fear of a morally perfect God that tempers our innate orientation to do evil. Where there is that lack of a fear of God, man has over and over again proved, throughout history, that he is evil! The cases of the ethnic genocide in Rwanda and of Adolf Hitler?s Nazism are prime examples of the extent to which the unbridled heart of man can go. Millions of people ? women and children, the aged, etc. ? perished under these regimes. Little children, along with their poor mothers and fathers, had their God-given lives taken away by the hands of evil men.

But God, being merciful and ever-loving, and in His infinite wisdom has gifted us with a form of government that when properly implemented will curb many of our evil tendencies. Democracy is a gift of God to man. It is the closest man can have of a perfect government. It?s not perfect; albeit nothing can be perfect in the hands of men. Yet it is the best form of government man has ever had. ?Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time? ? Sir Winston Churchill (British Prime Minister). Abraham Lincoln calls democracy ?government of the people, by the people, and for the people?.

Democracy is principled on checks and balances. It seeks to provide a balance of power between the three arms of government: the executive (the President), the Legislature (Parliament), and the Judiciary (the Court of Law). The power of each arm of government is regulated by the other arms. For democracy to work efficiently there ought to be a strong and vibrant opposition party to ?put the government on its toes?, so to speak. Putting the government of the day on its toes is the job of the opposition and not of the media as has been frequently claimed by the Ghanaian media as their responsibility. The media?s only role is to report fair and accurate news to the people ? to help them make informed decisions. Such mix-up of roles is unhealthy for our democracy. But ?If our democracy is to flourish, it must have criticism; if our government is to function it must have dissent? ? Henry Commager. ?In a democracy dissent is an act of faith. Like medicine, the test of its value is not in its taste, but in its effects? ? J. William Fulbright (US Politician). And ?no government can be long secure without formidable opposition? ? Benjamin Disraeli (British Politician). All democracy-loving Ghanaians cherish a strong and responsible opposition party ? a party they can view as a credible alternative to the incumbent government. They pray for such an alternative government daily. It saddens a million of such hearts when they see the many fragmented opposition parties in the country who seem to find it an impossible task to accomplish; keeping their parties functioning. The state of the CPP leaves nothing to write home about. The only party in the country that is potentially capable of offering an alternative to the ruling NPP party is the NDC.

The NDC is a party that metamorphosed from the PNDC dictatorship. When the clarion call for constitutional government ? within and without ? pressured the military junta to give way to a democratic form of government, a few functionaries of that junta, with the covert blessing of ?the chairman of the revolution?, formed the party and invited the same chairman to accept the flagbearership of that party by ?popular request or acclamation?. That is how the NDC was born. And that is how nomination by ?popular request or acclamation? became part and parcel of the NDC?s politicking. That the NDC is no different from the PNDC is seen in the methods and ideals of that party. The same men and women who run the military junta run the NDC. The same ideals they stood for ? June 4th ? still holds true for them today. The same methods they used to ?get people on board? are still in use, full-force. Another reason that shows that the PNDC is NDC is the fact that there is no line drawn by the followers of this party between the achievements of the PNDC and that of the NDC. That line is often blurred before the public, as they often cite projects that were PNDC projects as achievements of the NDC, although the same people are often quick to draw a distinction between the two organizations when it comes to atrocities of the PNDC. Yes, it?s very ironic, isn?t it! Whether the 1992 election was a case of a ?Stolen Verdict? or not we leave it to the historians to decide. But since that time, men of good intent in the NDC have tried to steer the party away from its checkered past and have tried to give it a new image. They?ve tried to instill more democratic principles into the work of the largest opposition party in the country. People of the likes of Dr. Obed Yao Asamoah, Dr. Kwesi Botchwey, Mike Gizo, P.V. Obeng, etc. were very displeased when democratic methods were thrown to the dogs and Prof. Atta Mills was imposed as flagbearer of the NDC party for the 2000 elections by Chairman Rawlings in the infamous ?Swedru Declaration?. Obed Asamoah for one publicly expressed his unhappiness. But that was the beginning of Obed?s woes as he had dared to disagree with the ?chairman of the revolution?. The 2000 elections were held. The NDC lost. Those opposed to the imposition of Atta Mills felt vindicated that it was a wrong decision, in the first place, not to have allowed the party members choose their own presidential candidate. Their voice, quenched for a longtime, now was heard. So in March 2001, the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the NDC chose Dr. Asamoah to head a committee that sought to revamp the party following their 2000 election defeat. As part of his recommendations, Dr. Asamoah wanted the ?founder and leader? position that chairman Rawlings held be scrapped and its place Rawlings would be one of many founders. He was also against Rawlings? desire to have the chairmanship position be co-chaired as it was before, arguing that a stronger chairmanship was better than the inherent weakness in two people captaining a ship (Obed wanted that position to be chaired by one person). In short, as he told the Daily Graphic, he wanted ?all leadership positions in the party be filled through democratic elections? - Daily Graphic .

With the NDC Congress imminent, it was obvious that Dr. Asamoah would seek the chairmanship of the party. Chairman Rawlings worked hard to scuttle Obed?s bid for party office as he saw Obed as a threat. He ?told a meeting with the NDC Youth Forum, at his Ridge residence in Accra that he would have preferred his former advisor on governmental affairs, Alhaji Mahama Iddrisu as the chairman of the party instead of much favoured Asamoah? ? The Independence . Just before the Delegates Congress, it was clear that Rawlings had unleashed his ?attack dogs? to oppose Obed in every step of the way. Led by loud-and-foul-mouthed Tony Aidoo, he accused Dr Asamoah in a radio interview on April 18, 2002 of ?using state resources to operate branches of the Veranda Boys and Girls Club in Ghana and Great Britain? ? Public Agenda . Then there was also a Kwame Agyekum, ?spokesman of the Action Forum? who ?called for the suspension of Dr Obed Asamoah, Treasurer of the NDC for the missing 100 million cedis until the final determination of the case before the court. The Action Forum said Dr Asamoah should be suspended from the NDC and barred from standing for ANY post in the party for allowing 100 million cedis being the party's money to get missing in his house? - GHP . All this was to no avail as on April 27th 2002 Dr Asamoah won the party chairmanship race, narrowly defeating Chairman Rawlings? choice, Alhaji Iddrisu Mahama by 334 to 332 votes. So it seemed the neo-democrats in the NDC were winning. Bolstered by this, Dr Kwesi Botchwey ? Rawlings? longest serving finance-minister who had had a fall-out with his boss ? decided to take his chance at the flagbearership of the party. And why not? The NDC seemed to be moving away from its intolerant past to a democratic future, so now was the time to try his luck! But Rawlings would have none of it. He saw Dr. Botchwey as a betrayer in spite of the over a decade service Dr. Botchwey had rendered to his Junta. And whatever Rawlings sees, so does his followers!

So on December 20th, 2002 the NDC held it?s congress to elect their flagbearer. Notice I said ?elect? and not ?impose?. Democracy was working. But as soon as proceedings started, it was obvious that Chairman Rawlings had said again ?not so fast!? This is how the Ghanaian Chronicle reported it: ?Last Saturday?s special national delegates? congress of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) was infested with molestations, brutalities, intimidations and humiliations ever witnessed in the history of political congress in Ghana. It became explicitly clear that it was a mirage to Obed Asamoah, Larry Adjetey, Mike Gizo and Kwesi Botchwey and their supporters, who thought that they could install internal democracy in the party. Party members wearing Prof Mills? T-shirts wielding clubs and rods made from bull hides (locally called koboko) beat up those perceived as ?supporters of Botchwey.? You dare not chant Botchwey slogans. ?If you are a supporter of Botchwey, you are NPP,? said one Botchwey supporter who, out of fear, quickly contacted a cousin at Legon for another dress. Not even students of the University of Ghana, who wanted to campaign for Dr Botchwey, were spared the brutalities. ?It started last night and this morning, we thought we could make some noise but they seriously attacked us,? said Master Victor Ayamga of C43, Commonwealth Hall. ?We had to run for our dear lives,? another student said? Not a single poster of Kwesi Botchwey was sighted. Apparently, all had been removed? Dr Kwesi Botchwey, his daughter, and Hon Mike Gizo, MP for Shai Osudoku, had their shares, for, they were severely heckled before they could enter. They would not allow Botchwey?s daughter to enter. He personally had to come back to fetch her from the security people. But for courage, Kwesi Botchwey would have resigned upon arrival at the congress grounds,? said an MP who supported him.

?Former President Rawlings? actions in no small way intimidated delegates. Throughout the congress, he was profusely writing, intermittently wiping his face with his white towel as if he was weeping. He ruffled his hair with his hand and sometimes stood up with his mobile phone close to his ears, as if he was talking to someone. At a point, Rawlings deliberately used his hand to stop the fast revolving blades of a ceiling fan. [His buffoonery and braggadocio was on full display to the admiration of his followers] ?It was as if he was going to commit suicide if Mills did not win,? said one NDC observer. At another time he rose up from his chair, walked straight to the microphones and rudely interrupted the electoral officer who was at the time calling the delegates to go and vote. All was because he (Rawlings) wanted to urge the people to go and vote fast. He did all these things after refusing to address delegates when it got to his turn to do so, according to the programme. ?I will not speak until after the elections when the truth prevails, then I will speak,? he said and sat down. Most delegates interpreted his decision not to speak before voting, to mean that he was going to resign from the party, if Botchwey won. Others also thought he wanted to see the outcome of the elections so that if it went in favour of Botchwey, he would burst up and attack them. ?I was going to talk about the NPP but I have stopped,? said Rawlings after voting results had been declared and he was again called upon to address delegates. Dr Obed Asamoah, the NDC National Chairman, was not spared at all. He was rudely interrupted in the middle of his address and this continued until he went to sit down. People standing in the windows, some of the delegates, as well as non-delegates who, for some reasons, had been allowed to enter the hall hooted at and openly insulted him. ?I will continue to hold my peace until others get matured in due course,? Obed said, as he persevered to read his address amid insults and hooting? ? The Ghanaian Chronicle

The fallout of this brute intimidation from Chairman Rawlings and his men? Kofi Asante NDC MP for Amenfi West resigned, Mike Gizo (NDC MP of Shai Osudoku) passionately appealed to his fellow NDC members to ''stop pushing me out of the party? saying that ?although he had been trying so hard to accommodate the taunts of some members of his party after supporting Dr Kwesi Botchwey in his bid for the NDC flagbearership, the harassment was becoming unbearable? ? Evening News . In 2004 Mr. Gizo called it a day! He refused to contest for that seat and opted for a private apolitical life. In short, the NDC became a divided party in 2004. In year 2000, Chairman Rawlings had divided his own party by imposing a Presidential candidate on them. In 2004 he could not have imposed a candidate as the people wanted a vote. Kwesi Botchwey was a strong challenger to Rawlings? choice ? Prof. Mills. So where persuasion fails force must be applied! So using intimidation, for the second time Rawlings had his way with the choice of flagbearer. History, they say, repeats itself ? especially to those who choose to never learn from it. Prof. Mills for the second time got defeated in the national elections. So the NDC was back to square one. Back to the opposition. Was any lesson learnt? Apparently not! But the leopard cannot change its skin. Chairman Rawlings will always be Chairman Rawlings.

In 2005, it was clear that the chairman of the revolution had decided to straighten things up in the NDC. He must get rid of all those who have refused to join the chorus. He pays the piper, so he must call the tune! Any dissenting view is uncivilized, and must be uprooted from the NDC. He is the NDC! He created it, for he?s the founder. It?s his personal property and whomsoever he wills he invites to join or hold an office. And only those he loves are invited to his NDC ?party? (pun intended). Dr. Asamoah had sought to redefine the NDC as a Social Democrat, but Rawlings said ?no?! NDC is still about ?June 4th? and it?s illusive ideals. Whoever wants to hold any position in Chairman Rawlings? party must swear and demonstrate that they believe in June 4th. Just a few days ago the chairman said '' I believe in the truth and values of June 4 revolution, no matter how some of you may not want to hear of it. I believe in it. I believe in it. I believe in the revolution of Dec. 31, 1981 and it is because of these values and principles that is why I am still in the country. I have refused to leave or run away? ? The Ghanaian Chronicle (December 23rd, 2005). It?s very sad that the eight years that Chairman Rawlings ruled under a supposedly constitutional government do not bring any fond memories to him; he does not delight in that era, but in the period when he was free to murder and spill blood, free to whip our mothers on the streets for vending or selling their goods for profits, free to send people to exile for 20years just because they made the Godfather uncomfortable. Those were the years he ?believes in?! To those who do not know or were not yet old enough?June 4th, 1979 represents a day which will forever live in infamy in the political history of Ghana. It was the day when Captain Boakye-Djan led a military mutiny to forcefully remove the-young-mulatto-airforce-officer-and-convicted-coupist-of-Scottish-heritage from jail and installed him as chairman of the AFRC after the mutineers had successfully overthrown the Kutu-Acheampong dictatorship. (I say of ?Scottish heritage? as his mother is of the Ewe ethnic group and heritage amongst the Ewe is of patrilineal line and not matrilineal as exists amongst the Akans. Hence, He cannot be a native of his mother?s village or hometown. He is of his father?s. And his father is Scottish.) The AFRC under Chairman Rawlings became the most brutal dictatorship in the history of Ghana. Lives were taken away under command of the chairman of the revolution, paupers were made of successful businessmen and women, mothers were stripped naked and whipped with lashes in the marketplace, and Judges were murdered in cold-blood because they had dared to not kowtow to the wishes of the chairman. Yet, Chairman Rawlings is an honorable man! A ?man of integrity?, as he likes to calls himself.

Elsewhere, he would have been behind bars, on death row, for crimes against humanity! But, hey, this is Ghana...where the murderer accuses the innocent man who has not even killed a goat in his life before as a serial killer?where the man who professes accountability and justice goes ?mad? when ministers under his regime are asked to ACCOUNT for embezzled state funds in a court of law under due process of the law. As of January 16, 2001 Chairman Rawlings declared his assets to be ?a chalet and wooden hut, situated at Tefle, in the Volta Region, which he said was given to him as a GIFT in 1996?a house under construction at North of Accra ? Tema Motorway,? a building plot situated at Kitase ...and yet another chalet and wooden hut at Tefle... two Agro-forestry?a Buick Rievera, GT 8817 N, describing it as a GIFT...On his average income per annum from employment or business (former President and UN Eminent person), he gave a figure of ?37, 717, 88.00. His cash balances or value of deposits of securities are given as ?56,886,421.86 (Ghana Commercial Bank ? Burma Camp) and ?45,767,875.57 (Ghana Commercial Bank ? High Street). Mr. Rawlings gave ?43,488,000 as his savings in Treasury Bills as well as ?116,745,191 as the value of ESB (Ex-Gratia) cheques he received upon his exit from office? ? Crusading Guide . Yet the same man today owns speedboats, jaguars, yachts, and is rich enough to import 4 bullet-proof Toyota Landcruisers paying 567 million cedis at the Tema port for duty on the cars . You do the math and tell me if a Ghanaian president with his income can afford all these. Everything that is too expensive he claims it was a GIFT from benevolent friends. Hmmm?gifts indeed! Yet this same man freely calls others ?thieves?. Rawlings? legendary record of hypocrisy is beyond the scope of this article. In fact, it?s worth a whole article by itself.

The sixth delegates? congress of the party occurred this weekend (December 24th, 2005) at Koforidua. Before then there was an apology and a move by Dr Obed Asamoah to give peace a chance in the party. By now Dr Asamoah has regretted the whole idea of offering an olive branch to chairman Rawlings. I?ve never seen anything of that sort as happened to Dr Asamoah in my life. He was grossly castigated and held in contempt for even initiating an effort to let bygones be bygones. As for Frances Essiam, the brutalities she suffered at the hands of her own NDC are sadly well deserved. She preferred to surround herself with thugs, but now that she is tasting the thuggery and brutish nature of her fellow cultists, whose skills of assault have been mastered over a period of over 20 years, she comes complaining and whining. ?Auntie Essiam, we told you so!? Good for her that she has decided to take care of her own self and quit that party. One of the contestants for NDC chairman, Victor Gbeho withdrew from the race with reason being ?the former President is from the south, the Party chairman now is from the south, the deputy minority leader in parliament is also from the south as well as the chairman of the Volta region MPs? caucus. I am also a southerner so they want us to give the Northern Voltarians a chance? ? Joy Online . Oooh Na so the world be! So Victor Gbeho being ?patriotic? did not want to be selfish so he gave way to someone from the Northern part of VOLTA REGION, Dr Kwabena Adjei (Former NDC MP for Biakoye, Volta Region). Yet they say the NDC is a NATIONAL party and not a tribal or regional party! In effect, Dr Kwabena Adjei beat Dr. Asamoah (a Voltarian himself) to the party chairmanship race, finally nailing the coffin to the neo-democrats in the NDC.

So Rawlings? will is the NDC?s. He wanted Dr. Kwabena Adjei as party chairman, he got it! He wanted Asiedu-Nketia as General Secretary, he got it! He wants Mills as his presidential candidate for 2008 and he will get it! The ground is set. Bootlickers are all in place. Men who will bow to his ?lordship?, kiss his ring-finger, and call him reverently, ?Godfather!? Have you observed that Atta-Mills, the so-called ?asomdwiehene?, is looking and sounding more like his Jerryship? Of late he?s developed the habit of issuing threats and innuendoes against everybody including the government, just like his boss. Mills threatened: "Our patience and tolerance should not be taken for granted but there comes a time in a man's life when he should fight to defend himself.? But are we at war? Who?s being attacking Mills for which Mills needs to defend himself? If someone were attacking another, wouldn?t it be the NDC ?attacking? the Presidency with communist-style propaganda and wild-goose allegations upon allegations for which the incompetent PR men in the Kufuor Administration cannot handle?

?The Founding father of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Flt. Lt. J.J Rawlings, yesterday put his boot in at the delegates congress of the party at Koforidua, when he and his preferred candidate for President, Professor John Atta Mills gave advance warning to Ghanaians and the diplomatic community that they will really give it to their opponents, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in 2008, if they are handed over the reins of power. Mills, abandoned his well-known peaceable disposition, talked tough with a broad hint of revenge and displayed a new unforgiving side, when he made a direct threat to his audience and the public who were listening in on the live radio broadcasts of the event. He asserted that the NDC did not lose the last elections, but that it was stolen from them, when he, Atta Mills, was the flagbearer. He noted that they decided to accept the results in the interest of peace. He then called on the IMF representatives and the diplomats present that whether he becomes the flagbearer or not in 2008, people should not take their respect for peace to be their weakness, but rather, the NPP 'will live to regret it' if they repeat the reported rough tactics they employed to 'win' the last elections. It was a chilling reminder of the rough days ahead. As if Rawlings had infected Mills, who is widely acknowledged to be under the thumb of the ex-President, Rawlings also reinforced the tone of vengeance and blood when he promised the ruling Government that they will be packing the men in Nsawam prisons, and pointedly rejected the apology of Dr. Obed Asamoah and replied to his repeated apology with curses, 'I pray for their souls'. It was a characteristic Rawlings outburst but it did take the delegates and party faithful by surprise, underscoring what the agenda of a Rawlings-Mills led party would pursue. This reinforced the level of control Rawlings still wielded over Mills, who went on to offer a lame rationalisation of what Rawlings meant when interviewed by Citi FM. ? ? The Ghanaian Chronicle (December 23rd, 2005)

The NDC is the only opposition party in the world that issues more threats to a ruling party and a commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces than they receive. Even in opposition they can?t hide their bullying nature. Amazing! Somehow they think they have monopoly over violence. But in any case, all is set in the NDC for the Godfather to reign supreme. All he has to do is to push hard and bully his way through and maybe, yeah maybe, he can force Mills to the presidency, if he succeeds in bullying the majority of Ghanaians. Then he?ll sit at his Ridge mansion and manipulate Atta-Mills by remote control so that he (Rawlings) can have his way with the country a third time. He?s already promised to send the NPP to Nsawam, although under this constitutional rule only the courts have that power, and not a private citizen who holds no office. But ?to hell with the constitution!? when it comes to Rawlings. It?s obvious that the Godfather wants to rule Ghana again by proxy. And who better to manipulate than Atta Mills. Poor Atta Mills! He was an ordinary unknown law professor, before Rawlings plucked him from obscurity and raised him high to the mountain-top of glory as Ghana?s Vice-president. He is who he is now, thanks to the benevolence of the Godfather; and for such benevolence he must show appreciation in humility to the Godfather, he must kiss his ring-finger and call him ?Godfather, Godfather!? Atta-Mills? subservient spirit has made him a pleasure to the Godfather. He delights in Atta Mills, for he (Mills) is ever ready to put even his own life on the line to do his master?s bidding. Unlike Obed Asamoah or Frances Essiam, who the Godfather had mercifully decided to "pray for their souls for having betrayed the cause of the NDC and falling by the roadside", if told to sleep Atta sleeps, if told to dance Atta dances?what better person to be at the helm of the highest office in the land!

Everyone in Ghana understood the meaning of Rawlings? coded words: ?I will pray for their souls? ? except, as usual his apologetics. ?I was quite angry and upset because you only pray for the soul of the departed so I?m asking, is this man wishing me dead or what after all my sacrifices? In fact I was upbeat and I will not lie to you, I think it was not a correct attitude of the founder. He better change his attitude if he wants the party to move forward. If that is not the case, I?m saying that his attitude was very ungentlemanly and was not befitting of a leader. He didn?t exhibit good leadership qualities at all and I think it?s very wrong. He should send good psychological message to up and coming youth who want to enter politics and stop this politics of acrimony which is always factored from his side or by himself. And I want him to know that he doesn?t own anybody from this party, least of all me and he is not the God who created me so I think he should advise himself to back off me. Castigating people openly in front of delegates and so on is not the best and Jerry Rawlings must know that he should back off and stop his nonchalance, chauvinist attitude because it will not help us at all. If it is his agenda to drive people out of the party and that is something that is his priority instead of building, then I believe Gold bless him and if he says he is praying for my soul then I will say that God should forgive him for his sins. The founder has undermined the theme of this congress and has come here with the spirit of disunity, but I believe that the delegates are discerning. The founder should stop driving a wedge between party members, he is the party breaker, wrecker and divisionist because outside the party we may meet anywhere and on any platform and at any forum. So I am telling Ghanaians to pray for the soul of JJ Rawlings to stop dividing the party.? That was Frances Essiam ? Joy Online

Mrs. Essiam was alarmed, for she knew what it meant ? that her very life was at stake. And knowing the Godfather?s history only a fool would play down on his ability to try to carry out his ends. ?If he says he is praying for my soul, then I am saying that God too should forgive him his sins.? ? Daily Graphic. When the bad blood between the Godfather and Mrs. Essiam started, according to Rawlings, he received a text message on his mobile phone from Mrs. Essiam which read ?My hands are not soiled with blood, like you?, then Rawlings told the delegates at the Founder?s Forum where he made this disclosure ?although Frances is a good and firm organizer, she must be stopped in her tracks, from inflicting further damage to the party? ? Daily Guide . But wait a minute! Mrs. Essiam had not attacked the party, she had attacked only Rawlings. In fact she still held herself as a member of the party as she was the National Women?s Organizer of the NDC. But to the Godfather, he (Rawlings) is the NDC! Any attack on him is an infliction of ?damage to the party?. In any case, Rawlings explained himself that when he said he would pray for Obed, etc.: ?to pray for a person, I?m more interested in exalting and praying for the spiritual strength of the person. I want to see a transformation in people, I could talk about praying for a mortal but praying for the soul is reaching towards the realm of Godliness with the hope that, that could transform the physical side of the person, even though I think it might be the other way round.? Ei, Pastor Rawlings! You know what? Christ has a few words for you though: ?Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother?s eye?! ? Matthew 7:5. Why don?t you pray for your own haunted soul first!

The same man who in September 2004 ?dared President Kufuor to swear by the Bible, Quran, Offin River and ANTOA NYAMA if he insists that he and his party people had no hands in killing of the Ya-Na? now is a Christian praying for the souls of others - GHP . The same man who curled up his lips and thrusted his fist in the face of God? In contempt of the Almighty, when he proclaimed in the 1990s to the whole country ?I don?t fear God!? today has become an evangelist. Nsem ewor world! When it suits him, Rawlings will become anything to accomplish his ends. He has succeeded in getting rid of those in the NDC whose opinion differs from his. Now the biggest opposition party in the country has become a cult. For the Godfather is definitely in charge. And every member must please the Godfather and do his bidding or else trouble! But this turn of events in the NDC is sad, and should not be cause of celebration by all those Ghanaians who love democracy and want to see it thrive in our land. This turn of events marks the beginning of the end of a once potentially credible opposition party. All who are discerning and are patriotic citizens of Ghana should resist this cultism that the Godfather wants to firmly plant in our politics. But to those who still lamely follow this cursed and haunted man, I remind them again ?Ye cannot serve God and mammon? ? Matthew 6:24. He spilt innocent blood himself; let him solely enjoy the cursed life he chose! When we, out of greed and personal ends, follow the Godfather and deceive a thousand ignorant people to do likewise, despite our knowledge of his record, we become partakers of his crimes and of his sins. But for sure, there are thousands of Atta-Millses who will continue to sing, no matter what, to the adoration to the chairman of the revolution: ?Godfather! Godfather! Godfather!?

Views expressed by the author(s) do not necessarily reflect those of GhanaHomePage.