Former president Jerry John Rawlings has said his call for God to lead the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is for members of the party to recognise and appreciate the divinity in noble principles.
He said: “ If we cannot recognise and appreciate the divinity in truthfulness, justice, integrity, loyalty, faithfulness, good work, respect and concern for one another, the environment and the divinity in the golden rule, then the God we are fearing and worshipping is a big waste of time.”
In an interview at his office in Accra on Thursday, the former President asserted, “If we did not subordinate the authority of God to the power of human beings, we would not have been where we are.”
Explaining what he meant by “God should take over the NDC party” the founder of the NDC said “if we gave God his due, we will not have allowed mortals in position of power or authority to get away with negative or corrupt behaviour.”
Truth and candour
Recently, the former President tasked the Volta Regional Caucus of the NDC in Parliament to champion the spirit of truth and candour if they wanted to see unity in the party and give strength to “our people”.
Responding to media reports that he was gunning to take over the NDC, President Rawlings discounted the reports saying, “I wish I could say yes, but I think it sounds better in my ear to say that I want God to come and lead us because of the integrity factor.”
Cause of defeat
Explaining all of these virtues in the good governance process of the country, he told the Daily Graphic that “if reverence to God only appears to exist in theory but not in practice then we are wasting our time. That reverence only appears to exist in theory but not in practice, we seem to have greater fear of mortals than of God,” he strongly asserted.
Former President Rawlings said in spite of the bitter lessons and shocks we suffer every once in a while, and “in spite of our supposed fear of the almighty God, we seem incapable of positioning or planting God above it all.”
NDC investigative body
On how he also perceived the investigative body of the NDC and to what extent he thought it was going to address the party’s setback, he was of the impression that “some members of that body lack the moral standing to be on it.”
In his view, subordinating people such as Mr Huudu Yahaya and a former Speaker of Parliament, Mr Doe Adjaho, among others, on the committee was an affront to their image.
Besides, the former President pointed out that some of the committee members knew nothing about it prior to the announcement and neither was the party’s Council of Elders consulted as the announcement claimed.
“This is nothing more than power play and an attempt by elements in a faction to whitewash themselves. They feel John Mahama has been kicked out and it’s their chance to stage a comeback using an investigative body to claim some legitimacy,” he reasoned.
According to the former President and founder of the NDC, “when Dr Bawumia was persistently attacking the NDC’s economic policies and performance, where were some of our professors when they were needed to counter the NPP’s criticisms?
“Some of them are downright opportunists and are never seen or heard taking on the opposition but are quick to hop onto any image-building vehicle of the party,” he underscored.
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