NDC Does Not Feel Slighted By Rawlings’ Speech At Congress…We Believe In Open Rebuke – Y B Gyan

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Created on Sunday, 02 September 2012 00:00

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NDC Does Not Feel Slighted By Rawlings’ Speech At Congress…We Believe In Open Rebuke – Y B Gyan

A leading activist of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) and a member of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) says the NDC is not in any way offended by the utterances of the Founder, Jerry John Rawlings, when he addressed NDC faithfuls at the Special Delegates’Congress which took place at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium last Thursday.

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National Organiser of the NDC, Yaw Boateng Gyan says the NDC believes in open reproach and there is nothing better than a father who publicly chastises or counsels his children, thus the party takes in good faith, the comments expressed by their founder.

Former President Rawlings, in characteristic fashion last Thursday, retaliated for the verbal onslaughts he has been suffering at the hands of some NDC activists who occasionally rain invectives on him anytime he took exception to happenings within the NDC, when he descended on the “babies” with “sharp teeth” in the NDC.

In a speech shrouded in innuendos and euphemisms which saddled his audience with the task of decrypting the remarks, the former president who spoke in a euphemistic fashion, questioned whether such babies “should not be lowered out with the dirty water so that we can concentrate on the many good babies? After all, one bad nut is all it takes to spoil the taste in your mouth.”

“Mr. President, fellow Ghanaians it is said that we should not throw out the baby with the bathwater, but what do we do when some of the babies in the tub are babies with teeth, biting and spewing invectives? Should they not be lowered out with the dirty water so we can concentrate on the good ones? After all one bad nut is all it takes to spoil the taste in your mouth."

"When we find ourselves at a wooden bridge with some planks rotten, do we wait to get new planks before removing the rotten ones or do we remove the rotten ones immediately to prevent the potential loss of limbs and lives?” he quizzed.

The former president, who plainly told President Mahama that an electoral victory in December will depend on how quickly he can restore dignity to the presidency, to the government and to the party, aside other factors, was also not generous to those he said were sitting in the comfort of their homes, both in Ghana and abroad, waiting ‘for others to win the elections for them’.

He described as an insult to “people’s intelligence”, the tendency to embrace people they have initially denigrated because of political expediency.

“Those who in the past have been sitting in the comfort of their rooms and waiting for others to win elections for them, they should also come out and go through the forests of Ghana and have a feel of campaign this time around…Can we under the Ghana of today say that we feel the same way of wanting to die for this country?” he asked.

“The uncivilized tendency of poking people who have sacrificed and later attempting to embrace them for political expediency must stop. It’s an insult to people’s intelligence. Let’s begin to show civility to each other in the hope that it is not too late,” he added.

And the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) have cashed in on Mr Rawlings’ remarks.

Moments after the congress, General Secretary of the NPP, Lawyer Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, said there was nothing significant about the NDCs congress and the party should not be on cloud nine because its founder graced the occasion, pointing out that former President Rawlings was only there to chastise the NDC in the face.

But NDC National Organiser told Okay FM’s< b>Ade Akye Abia morning show host, Kwame Nkrumah “Tikese” that the NPP had wished Mr Rawlings would not attend the congress so they could capitalize on it. He added that the NPP have been shamed by the founder’s presence, and now are seeking to make a mountain out of a molehill regarding what he (Rawlings) said in Kumasi.

“If you have a father like this who comes out to publicly counsel his kids, what is wrong with it? We, the NDC, believe in open scolding and we believe when Rawlings offers advice, it draws our attention to some issues and helps us to know how to handle them…,” he said.

Yaw Boateng Gyan added that “if indeed Rawlings was speaking the truth, then the NDC will listen in good faith, besides there is nothing wrong with what he said or him coming to the congress to advise his members”.

According to him, “even the Bible says foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child but the rod of discipline will remove it far from him, so if a father reproaches his children or chastises them, it is not a big deal; we have a father who speaks openly about issues and we are proud of that”.

He however rubbished claims that leadership of the NDC had questionable facial expressions and were quivering in fear when the founder mounted the podium to deliver his speech.

Source: Beatrice Adepa Frempong/Peacefmonline.com