The Rawlings Legacy And An Enduring Lightning Rod

President Jerry John Rawlings has become something akin to a folklore in the history and day- to- day lives of Ghanaians. Everyone seems to have an opinion about the man and bear with me when I refer to him as President and not former President because I revere the Presidency to the extent that anyone blessed enough to assume reins of this country deserves such a “little” indulgence, I still refer to President John Agyekum Kufuor as President not a former President, so let us allow this argument to be cast aside. Back to President Rawlings depending on whom you speak to, they have a wide range of spectrum of opinion about him, to some he is an evil guy, who must be carefully watched before he does anything crazy, to yet still a sizeable part of the population he is a hero, a charismatic leader whose fame and cult of personality does not seem to diminish with time . Well I am a full blooded Ghanaian who happened to live under the rule of President Rawlings during his turbulent rise to power, to put it those terms for a lack of a better phrase so I think I am entitled to have an informed opinion about him.

Legacy issue and rapid rise to power

Legacy is something that all leaders openly never talk about but always wrestle with in secret. Ask any politician let alone a leader of a country what he or she would like to be remembered for, you hear the usual slogan about not thinking about their legacies. Well I believe you will agree with me to beg to differ. In that vein many have sought to define the legacy of President Rawlings, to some he is about the worst leader we have ever had, yet still to others he is next to no one expect perhaps President Nkrumah (who I believe, despite not personally subscribing to CPP ideology, is the greatest leader to have come out of Ghana and Africa, yes the whole of Africa!!). I do not believe President Rawlings is the worst leader we ever had, no! However, it’s important we look at what he did during his tenure and let posterity judge, let us look at what he did wrong and right, objectively but let’s avoid looking through colored and biased partisan lenses.

A gaunt, fierce speaking Flt Lt of the Air Force burst unto the scene in May 1979 and the history and trajectory of Ghana was never to be the same. Blood, yes blood was used to usher in the next phase of Ghana’s history and the man at the centre of all of this was no other than now President Rawlings, he came under the guise (or firm belief, take your pick) that corruption had permeated the very fabric of Ghanaian society and needed to be cleansed, and cleansing thereafter followed, literally, in blood and lives and shattered homes. The merits and demerits of the coups is not my focus, what followed especially from 1981, is what intrigues me.

Undeniable Accomplishments

Let me start with what I believe he will be remembered the most for accomplishing. His background in the security apparatus, some will argue gave him credibility in matters that involve safety and security of a nation like Ghana. I concur, one cannot deny him this fact, that with the help of his strong and charismatic personality he single handedly prevented Ghana from going the way of other West African countries like Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Guinea Bissau(sad example). These countries have been plunged into unimaginable chaos and brutalities, civil wars and strife, even Togo for a brief period degenerated into absolute chaos. For all the bravado talk from our Nigerian Friends, they know what kind of country they have created for themselves a country where they are even afraid to live in and invest. You lay your bed you should lie in it. So to sum it up, yes President Rawlings stabilized this country like no one did, not even the legendary Nkrumah. Under Rawlings’ regime we had no successful coups and that’s a feather in his cap, let there be no doubt about that.

Yet still another stellar accomplishment would have to be the low rate of crime under his tenure. I have always confided in friends and family members that under Rawlings’ rule in the 1980’s crime was almost non- existent, life even though was a bit on the harsh side was still good because of the peace of mind families enjoyed. We could go out and still come back late in the evenings. But now with the alarming crime rate and more troubling violent armed robberies a menace that if not tackled could lead us the way of the Nigeria way, a Pandora box that need not be opened. Others will point out to me that the complexities of those years cannot be compared to the recent explosion of the population, migration of people to most urban centres which have become the hotbeds of violent crimes and the relative awareness that development has brought, they point to these factors to explain the rapid rise in violent crimes in Ghana. I agree wholeheartedly but I would not want to deny a man better still a leader his due when it’s due him.

Rawlings to some extent did the best he could to avoid tribalistic sentiments from taking evil roots like they did in some other African countries like Rwanda and Burundi. Yes nepotism and the general sense of favoring one particular tribe over another prevailed but to this author, I think it could have been worse, so for that I firmly believe it was nothing more than your typical gossips and wise cracks and crude jokes we all too often engage in our homes about people from other tribes. If we are honest with ourselves we will all plead guilty, I certainly do, something that we should never be proud of. We are aiming to build a more harmonious society for our future generations to live in. No room for tribalistic discrimination, it should never be tolerated. We are all Ghanaians first!

Rawlings also did well to fully absorb the Ghanaians who were inhumanely deported from Nigeria at the height of the rise of xenophobia in that country. That large chunk of our citizens remarkably were integrated back into the society without causing any major adverse social imbalance and the ensuing chaos that results from integrating such a large number of people back into society. Hindsight has shown that it was a tough act to have been executed that well. In this same subject isn’t it funny that what goes around comes around, where we have Nigerians fleeing the “beloved” and “giant of Africa” country of theirs to find peace and safety in Ghana. What a twisted turn of events. I guess it’s a small world after all.

Great vision and President Kufuor comparisons

For all the major milestones accomplished under Rawlings regime PNDC, perhaps the greatest will and still is the decision to turn Ghana from an autocracy to a democracy. I don’t think we can begin to fully grasp what that policy did to the lives of ordinary Ghanaians like me. From the referendum on the 1992 Constitution, to it’s adoption by a more than a majority of Ghanaians, to the slowly building of the pillars of our democracy; free press, independent judiciary, divorce of the security apparatus from the political process of this beautiful nation of ours to countless yet fine examples of what a true democracy should be like, this I believe can be his (President Rawlings) true legacies. Whether it was forced on him from the “powers that be” or he decided to metamorphose from camouflage clothes (Soldier man) to Agbada and political suits (I know he hated those damn suits!!), he can still lay claim to this great vision which has the potential to lift the masses from the misery he claimed he came to relieve them off.

Yes Rawlings had the vision but in the same light President Kufuor even took it to another whole new level, for all Kufuor’s detractors no one can ever deny the fact that he possesses statesmanlike qualities something a true leader should never lack. President Kufuor did more than just advance the cause of democracy in this country, he set a tone (more about President Rawlings’ tone of communication) that was non- threatening yet persuasive. So yes Rawlings had the vision, Kufuor built upon that vision and it my fervent hope President Atta Mills will build further on what Kufuor accomplished.

Bloody and dark side of President Rawlings

For all the bright spots and good grades President Rawlings might get from me and others there was still a dark, deadly and bloody side to his whole personality.

This is the side his fierce loyalists, the NDC activists and foot soldiers would rather not talk about. They would rather sweep it under the rug with the general excuse that it happened in the past and under the “revolution”.

For starters the 31st December “revolution” as it is called was and still is unconstitutional, the courts have ruled on that and all that happened during those dark days cannot be just wished away. No way, no magic wand can do that. There must be full accounting for all that happened in that era.

President Rawlings murderous rise to power, the killings of innocent men and women all in the name of the ‘revolution” will forever be a stain on his legacy. We don’t need to rehash those days of terror where men and women were dragged from their place of abode and more importantly from their loved one and just “disappeared “into thin air. The reign of terror of the 64 battalion, the Commandos are a bloody stain on the conscience of every active participant of the “revolution” and chief among them was a gaunt, fire breathing leader called Flt Lt J.J Rawlings. The name J.J became synonymous with brutalities, rape, abduction; unlawful seizures of lawfully acquired properties, destructions of families just to name a few. Please I hope his admirers will not give me the excuse that he did not personally order all those brutalities. Well he was the leader and the buck had to stop with someone, he was that someone, it’s no excuse.

His greatest asset becomes his weakest point

As with historic tragic figures, President Rawlings greatest asset; his booming and larger than life personality sadly became his Achilles heels. It blinded him to what could have been a golden opportunity to go down in Ghanaian history as the greatest leader; his penchant to descend to un-statesmanlike behavior (to put it mildly) was and is still sad sight to behold. I can never forget his now infamous and legendary boom speeches where in one instance he compared sitting a President to a convicted armed robber and countless others that would not be worthy for this author to delve into.

Without a shadow of doubt the PNDC/NDC era witnessed corruption on a scale never before seen in the annals of this country. We can argue back and forth about the Nkrumah era, Acheampong era and NPP reign but what makes the Rawlings era more poignant is the very fact that the cornerstone of the “revolution’ was probity and accountability. That made it to stand out more than corruption from other eras. Indeed Ghana was subjected to “probity and accountability” unfortunately those who wrote the rules of the game became the judges and executioners at the same time. It became the classic example of hypocrisy, I mean broad daylight hypocrisy. That level of corruption should never be allowed to happen in Ghana again. Never again.

Taking responsibility or the lack thereof.

The most important classic failure will be the sheer stubbornness of President Rawlings to admit his role in the coward slayings of the Army officers in the June 4th uprising. He has even admitted albeit not taking responsibility that he was coerced into ordering the killings of the following officers and countless innocent Ghanaians; General Ignatius Kutu Acheampong, Air Vice Marshall George Yaw Boakye, General Akwasi Amankwaa Afrifa, Lt. General Fred W.K. Akuffo, Rear Admiral Joy Kobla Amedume, Major General E.K. Utuka, Colonel Roger Felli, Major General Robert E. A. Kotei and our own man of valor, our own Alexander the Great, Major General Neville Odartey-Wellington.

For those who have become politicized on this very issue I want you to know these people had families too, widows have been left behind to grieve for their dead but even more painfully there has never been a closure to their pain. The true measure of the strength of a country is how she takes care (providing justice) of the least and weakest citizens. Those with no voice, yes who can argue about the pain those widows have gone through. You will be a heartless person to deny this basic human fact.

I will conclude by saying that of all our leaders from Nkrumah to Kufuor to Rawlings, I don’t believe President Rawlings will go down as the worst I have already argued above for that however what puzzles me and I know puzzles him(President Rawlings) is what I talked about in the beginning of this article; his legacy, I am sure he sleeps with one eye open thinking about what posterity will think about him and his rule, I can speak for millions of other well meaning Ghanaians that his greatest asset should not be a milestone around the neck of his legacy.

What President Rawlings needs to do

It takes a man to have courage to admit his wrong doings, he should be courageous enough to admit his role in what has been proven to be innocent killings some with his direct orders and others under his rule. He needs to expunge this bloody stain on his conscience and the conscience of this nation, yes, call the widows of those slain, tell them you are sorry, yes call Mrs. Beatrice Boakye and tell her about the gentle soul and nature of Air Vice Marshall George Boakye, bring a closure to the enduring pains other widows like Mrs. Boakye have gone through.

No one will judge President Rawlings, like the saying of the greatest yet perfect and famous man who walked this earth 2000 years ago said “your words and deeds will be your judge”.

Over to you President Jerry John Rawlings.

If his fierce loyalists read this piece pass this on to him, better still I hope the birds pass on this message through their whispers to the abode of him who once ruled Ghana.

Mr. Ebenezer Hayfron-Benjamin . The author can be contacted through this Email: [email protected]