Kobby Acheampong: Maturity Comes With Age…But Not So With Rawlings

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Created on Saturday, 04 August 2012 00:00

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Kobby Acheampong: Maturity Comes With Age…But Not So With Rawlings

Former President Rawlings’ recent comments on the death of President John Evans Atta Mills in an interview with the BBC, seems to have

incurred the wrath of virtually every stalwart in the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC).

The latest to openly condemn his (Rawlings) remarks is the Deputy Minister for the Interior, Kobby Acheampong.

In an implied manner, Kobby Acheampong used an adage to describe the former President as immature.

“Former president Rawlings, he thinks when he isn’t in control, then everything else doesn’t work… and that he is the only wise man among a nation of twenty-five million people? The answer is a “NO”! One head can’t contain all the wisdom and two heads are better than one… you see, we always say there is maturity with age, but I am seeing the reverse happening actually at this time,” he said.

The Deputy Minister for the Interior further stated that ever since the late president was sworn in, Mr Rawlings has been consistent in his uncomplimentary remarks about him (Mills) and stressed that the time has come for the NDC to boldly tell the ex-president that enough is enough.

“We’ve allowed this thing to fester; to the point where he thinks everything he says is what is right and he can disparage anybody and get away with it…You know this thing must stop at a point,” he said. President Mills died on Tuesday, July 24, 2012 at about 14:15 hours (GMT) at the 37 Military Hospital. Though the autopsy report is yet to be made ready, former President Rawlings, told the BBC World Service in Congo Brazzaville on Wednesday, that though he was shocked to hear the news of the death of Prof Mills, it did not come to him as a surprise. He revealed that Mills suffered from cancer which affected both his eye and his ear, and "he couldn’t sustain it more than three hours per day."

“Quite frankly, I think had he been advised and done something wiser earlier on, he could probably have survived for another six, seven months I guess, but he got too tight, he got extremely tight and the poor professor passed away,” Mr Rawlings said.

But the deputy Interior Minister considers the comments as distateful and accused the former president of trying to hold himself to be wiser than the entire Ghanaian population.

To him, Mr Rawlings’ jab in the said interview with the BBC was not only directed at Prof Mills, but also at his successor, President John Dramani Mahama. He added that the ex-president and NDC Founder was being disingenuous by somewhat scoffing at President Mahama’s ability to perform as president, when he (Rawlings) had once appointed him (Mahama) as a minister.

“Our telecommunication laws, our telecommunication industry had a certain ambit due to the current president, and yet, you (Rawlings) find it possible to say you don’t know whether he will be able to achieve...We are tired of this, you don’t denigrate a person even into his grave, because he has no right of response...but we, the living, will respond for him,” Kobby Acheampong said.

Source: Chris Joe Quaicoe/Peacefmonline.com