Opinions of Wednesday, 19 May 2010
Columnist: Serebuor, Kwame
Rawlings is a hypocrite - Kufuor
Former President John Agyekum Kufuor, has said in an exclusive interview that Former President Rawlings is quick at mounting the rooftops to proclaim that people are corrupt as if “he is a living saint” adding that, “a lot of the time he sounds hypocritical”
“I don’t think serious people should use him (Rawlings) as a measure of righteousness in our society” he stated.
Mr. Kufuor who withdrew Former President Rawlings’ courtesies for what he considered offensive comments in the international press, was ironically blasting his predecessor in an international magazine - Africa Watch Magazine. In the interview dubbed “enough is enough”, former President Kufuor sought to portray his predecessor as a control freak who will run people down if he doesn’t get his way whilst portraying himself as a gentle giant. Recalling the antecedents which led to the sour relationship which currently exist between the only surviving ex-presidents, Kufuor said, at the time he became President, the relationship between him and Rawlings wasn’t as bad as it is today, until he one day turned down rampant summons from Rawlings to meet him at places predetermined by Mr. Rawlings.
“When I assumed office, the first two months, things seemed to be all right, until every now and then he would send an emissary to tell me to meet him at some place. It happened, first, second and a third time. The first three I obliged but the fourth time, I sent the person back to tell him I would not meet him anywhere but at the Presidency” he stated.
Mr. Kufuor said, it was after he turned down Rawlings’ rampant summons for meetings that he started yelling insults at him.
“From then on he started raining abuses on me and it continued through the eight years that I was in power, going as far as to compare me with Ataa Ayi. What is he up to, I can’t understand”
Mr. Kufuor said, before he assumed power, it was his intension to respect Mr. Rawlings, the same way he wanted to be respected once he left power, but things went bad because of Rawlings’ tendency to yell insults at him.
KWAME SEREBUOR ( Atwima - K’dua.)