- Says, late Rawlings Cleared the Augean stable in Ghana…
- Created a system that allowed elite to invest their resources in Ghana
By Gbenga Abulude (Politics and General Desk)
More encomiums have continued to come the way of the departed former leader of Ghana, Jerry Rawlings who transited from being a military leader to a democratically elected president of Ghana and paved the way for the growth of the country and its economy.
A former Nigeria’s minister of Foreign affairs and eminent professor of International relations, Prof Bolaji Akinyemi has weighed in on the gains of Rawlings administration as a frontline leader who was a Pan -African leader and stood up for Africa.
Akinyemi who was a guest analyst at a podcast program, ‘Tru the eyes’ said Rawlings was a friend and leader worthy of emulation who was courageous to clean the augean stable in his country.
Recall that The New Diplomat had reported the news on Jerry Rawlings demise on Thursday, 12th November 2020 at the age of 73 after battling a short illness widely believed to be Covid-19 complications which worsened his ill-health leading to his death at the Korlebu Teaching Hospital in Accra, Ghana.
Speaking of his death and his very essence as a leader, the celebrated Professor of International Relations and Political Science said; “It upsets me quite a lot even though I am not even allowed protocol wise as a former minister of Foreign Affairs to claim a former president as his friend.
“Jerry Rawlings was one of those I bonded with as a foreign minister just like I bonded with just like I bonded with Thomas Sankara, former president of Burkina Faso.
“I admire Rawlings a lot. He did a lot for Ghana and I think he did a lot positively for the African image and the African brand. I don’t know how many times I have been asked on this program, why do we have docile leaders, why do we have leaders who do the bidding of their colonial masters? When will we have leaders who will stand up for Africa?
“Well, Rawlings stood up for Africa through what he did in Ghana and since he left office, consistently he has stood up for Africa.
“And whenever critical issues came up and he was being asked awkward questions by the western media, he firmly put them in their place asking if they will accept a system that put external interest against their national interest.”
Akinyemi, a former Director-General of the elite federal government owned policy think-tank, the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs(NIIA) also shared his thoughts on what transpired in the early regime of Jerry Rawlings and how junior military officers staged a coup and installed him as their leader because of their faith in him to lead the process of change and transformation in Ghana.
Akinyemi, who also served as the deputy chairman of the 2014 National Constitutional Confab said further: “It’s a pity that something which we Africans don’t recognize that it was younger officers: sergeants, privates, and the rank and file in the Ghanaian army who actually carried out a coup and went to liberate Rawlings from prison. He had already been arrested for planning a coup and he had faced a court-martial and the court-martial was on when he was locked up in jail, in detention while the trial continued. The rank and file of the army said No! This is our man, this is someone that has the interest of Ghana at heart against a rotten system and liberated him from jail and went to install him as leader of Ghana.
“So it wasn’t really Rawlings who carried out that specific coup that installed him. So to that extent, he was golden to the junior officers and to the rank and file of the Ghanaian army.
“And that explained some of the things that happened in the first few months in office. I had the opportunity to meet him at different occasions after leaving office and I asked some few questions on what transpired in those months.
“Because one of the Generals in Ghanaian army that he executed, (General A) Afrifa, I had a fondness for him. Of course I didn’t get close to him, I was still either a lecturer in the university or the Director General of the Nigeria Institute of International Affairs but I liked him and I asked him what did Afrifa do that you got him executed? And he (Rawlings )gave his reasons which I won’t discuss here. And he came to Nigeria a few times after he left office and we were able to talk…”
Akinyemi also noted that Rawlings should also be commended for creating a honest system that put the growth of the economy of Ghana into consideration.
The former foreign minister drew a comparison between Nigeria and other countries especially Ghana stating that at a critical period in Ghana’s democracy, Rawlings created a transparent system that facilitated the growth of the country’s economy.
He said: “We can credit Rawlings for cleaning out the system and running Ghana with a system that allows the ruling elite to invest their resources in Ghana rather in their own pockets. So to that extent the resources of Ghana contributed to growth in their own GDP.
“Though he was no longer there, it led to the exploration of gas and oil in Ghana offshore, we have seen in our own country Nigeria and other countries that the resources that make from oil are diverted into their own pockets and members of their own elite became richer as the country became poorer in terms of benefits, GDP analysis.”
“That’s what the influence of Rawlings prevented in Ghana, there was no growth of an elite that grew fat on the resources of the Cocoa, the gas and petroleum. “Ghana did not produce billionaires while Ghana’s economy and growth was just crawling at the pace of snails. No! The GDP had this exponential growth due to the resources.
“As I said one cannot credit Rawlings for this since it happened after he left office but one can credit Rawlings for leading Ghana with a honest system and a system that is more responsive to the growth of Ghana,” he added.
