Opinions of Sunday, 12 September 2010
Columnist: Coffie, Emmanuel Dela
I wish to register my indignation at Alhaji Bature, a discredited and tainted
NDC activist who went on Adom FM, a private radio station in Accra on Wednesday
8th September 2010 and cast aspersions at the personality of former President
Rawlings. Alhaji Bature stated in his radio interview that, Rawlings has been
defeated. “We have defeated him and we will take him on anytime he speaks.”
Should Alhaji Bature’s populist brand of political rhetoric go unchallenged?
Would these shenanigans go any way to heal the old wounds between the President
and former President Rawlings? Do we take Bature’s comment as an official
position of government? Who are the “we” that Bature talked about? Was there any
battle that Mr Rawlings lost? I find Bature’s belligerence, and his utterances
on our party founder, to be very reckless and we are convinced that such
unprovoked attack on the former president could only be part of that grand
scheme orchestrated by President Mills to once again ridicule the party founder.
Why is it acceptable for some Mills loyalists, to treat Jerry Rawlings as a
fugitive in his own party, yet see the scrutiny of John Mills, an “alien” in the
NDC, as a taboo? We have been fooled to believe in a heaven on earth, by
promises of better Ghana, when social misery, undeniably, remains the same, if
not worse. Yet government is obsessed with the Rawlings’ and their sense of
criticism is only limited to tearing the Rawlings’ apart. This level of inept
wanton folly beats my imagination and I want to state categorically that,
President Mills and his close associates are behind this agenda to ridicule and
discredit Mr Rawlings. Well-meaning followers of the NDC Founder are sending a
signal to all those clowns around President Mills who constantly spew a bunch of
wheat due to ignorance in an attempt to make us believe that Mills is the best
thing that ever happened to the NDC to be weary of the repercussions of their
unguarded attacks on the former president!
While democracy offers us the window to communicate our views on any subject
matter, it does not allow incendiary provocations. The NDC cannot afford the
cost of any human folly that could be misread, as a threat, and incite violence.
Can we blame the victim, and the embattled, for deploying legitimate violence to
defend himself, and his family? Even under International Law, states have the
right to adopt pre-emption, as a necessity, to suppress threats to their
security. Even after several months of silence, Mr Rawlings is being drawn into
unprovoked attack by the likes of Bature who have completely lost it. Bature is
just one of the many wretched comedians and among a bunch of noisy ducklings who
have lost touch with reality and would sell their integrity to pretence in order
to protect the status quo and their long pockets. No sane person who is clear in
his/her mind will say that you have defeated Rawlings when indeed there was no
battle. Bature’s comments have portrayed him as a loose talker who does not
exercise discretion in the public domain. It is this same Bature who warned Mr
Rawlings of serious consequences if he does not stop criticizing President Mills
and before we could say Jack, fire gutted the residence of the former president
on that fateful day of February 14th 2010. We have therefore taken Bature’s
folly as another threat on the Rawlings’ and we will employ and deploy all
legitimate violence to protect the former First Family.
We shall be back!!
Emmanuel Dela Coffie
Delacoffie.wordpress.com