Former President Jerry John Rawlings h,as launched yet another scathing attack on the man who succeeded him in office, Mr. John Agyekum Kufuor, calling him a terrorist.
He also accused former President Kufuor of presiding over corruption and blamed him for some “killings” which took place under Kufuor’s eight-year term in office.
Speaking Sunday on Accra-based Asaase FM, this is how Mr. Rawlings assessed the leadership of his successor:
“That man was one of the worst constitutional terrorists I have come across,” he claimed.
He noted, rather with regret, that people failed to buy into his criticism of Kufuor, albeit for a good purpose.
“If I have criticised and exposed him, once a while, and that appears to be earning him public sympathy, then I don’t see why I should be criticising people who have committed less offences,” he said.
Mr. Rawlings had been asked by host, Kwaku Sekyi Addo, about his feelings when he handed over power in January 2001 after over 19 years at the helm of affairs, as Ghana’s longest serving leader.
“I was quite tired of being in office, ” he said, pointing to the fact that he was also advanced in age with “little energy left” and therefore, it was something he was looking up to.
“[But] when the foolishness started, and we had to put up with, and we did,” he recalled.
He promised to let more out in a book he has authored, expected to come out soon.
Former President Rawlings briefly talked about why he fell out with President Dr. Hilla Limann, whom he ousted in a coup in 1979.
He claimed, that administration made an attempt on his life, persecuted people, killed some of the people involved in the revolution and among others, became corrupt.
“Liman almost eliminated me…I had no choice but to step in,” Mr. Rawlings asserted.
