It is no exaggeration to say that former President Rawlings and his wife have become political pests. They have nothing new to offer Ghanaians except those political rivals of the NDC who see them today as new-found allies. As they continue to defy common sense and reason, they make a huge mockery of themselves and the legacy that they should have been working hard to defend, not destroy. Probably, they are themselves not proud of that legacy. I pity them as they stew in their foolhardiness. The election of Nana Konadu Agyemang-Rawlings as the flagbearer of the National Democratic Party (NDP) at the party’s convention in Kumasi today is no big deal. Speculation on this score has been rife ever since it became clear that the Rawlingses have a sinister agenda to undercut the NDC in pursuit of their deep-seated political ambitions. Not only have the Rawlingses made scathing pronouncements against the NDC and its government, but they have also carried out underhanded measures to undercut the party’s support base. Having indulged in rabble-rousing and manipulating the so-called “foot-soldiers” to turn against ex-President Mills in readiness for carving their party out of the NDC, they have carried the battle to a logical conclusion that the Kumasi delegates convention has confirmed. But this new development exposes their underbelly all the more. I don’t begrudge them the right to enjoy their political will however they choose to; but I detest their insidious manouevres and patent diabolical politics. I have already established in previous articles that the Rawlingses cannot live their lives in any other way unless they do politics. They have gained enormously from doing so and lived in comfort while dissembling their true self-acquisitive nature and feeding fat on the gullibility of the Ghanaian youths to prosecute their hidden political agenda. Today has revealed more of them that we must not dismiss with a mere shrug of our shoulders. That is why I suggest that the leadership of the NDC must act decisively to cut off the Rawlings phantom from the party. Forming and funding the NDP is a clear demonstration of the Rawlingses’ insidiousness that won’t help the NDC’s cause. As a party formed to drain the NDC of its grassroots support, the NDP relies on Rawlings to do its hatchet job as he remains the NDC’s founder and National Executive Committee chairman straddling the confines of both the NDC and NDP. This double-dealing must be tackled. The signature tune of the NDP even makes this hatchet job clear. It contains threats to “take back the umbrella.” Vengeance underlies everything about this NDP. Of course, considering the painful experiences that Nana Konadu has had since she allowed her unbridled ambition for power to overtake common sense and reason in politics, one shouldn’t be surprised at all that she has now found the NDP as a safe haven. And that her husband is solidly behind her! Rawlings shouldn’t be tolerated to continue playing hide-and-seek with the NDC. While it took Nana Konadu much time to resign from the NDC to lead the NDP, Rawlings hasn’t done so even though he is moving to and from both political camps, behaving as if he can help the cause of both. He won’t. All he is doing is creating more credibility problems for the NDC. He must no longer be allowed to do so from within. That’s why he must be kicked out immediately. Some of us have already treated the NDP with the contempt it deserves and won’t care a hoot about its future. But we care very much that Rawlings will use his place in the NDC to fight its cause. Already, signs are clear that those who have become disillusioned in the NDP will quickly advise themselves instead of remaining stuck between the devil and deep blue sea. The resignation of the party’s General-Secretary, Dr. Rockson Mamboah, on the basis of his fear that the NDP is being micro-managed by Nana Konadu is just an inkling of the storm that is brewing already. The party’s executive officers in the Upper East Region have also resigned and returned to the NDC. History reveals that political parties borne out by the sentiments nurturing the NDP don’t last. I expect the NDP to go that way too, especially after the December elections when results prove that it is no force to reckon with in Ghanaian politics. Then, the Rawlingses will come face-to-face with the reality that they are repudiating today. That is why it is important for the NDC leadership to act swiftly to steady the party’s ship on the political high seas. They must immediately dismiss Rawlings from the party to prevent any further worsening of the party’s fate by him and his hirelings. I may come across as too draconian, but I am more than confident that such a bold action will separate the sheep (who will serve the party’s interests wholeheartedly) from the goats (led by Rawlings and all those still in the party but working hard to dismember it). From what Rawlings told the Joy News correspondent at the NDP congress, it is clear that he is playing a devilish game to the disadvantage of the NDC. He had revealed that he owed allegiance to both the NDC (of which he is still regarded as the founder and Chairman of its National Executive Committee) and the NDP (of which he is a kingpin and the main force behind his wife’s ambitions). Not being bold to dismiss Rawlings will endanger the NDC more than ever. Here is someone who openly declared that although he still supports the NDC, he is more supportive of the breakaway faction (NDP). On this basis, he claims that if he has the energy to participate in the electioneering campaigns, he will do so for both his wife and President Mahama. How impossible! What will Rawlings say in favour of the NDC only to turn round in the next breath to use it to the advantage of the NDP? This split personality problem has negatively affected the NDC all these years and must be curtailed outright. His saying that he will not quit the NDC is no justification for him to be tolerated any more. Certainly, Rawlings is still nursing a very damaging grudge that won’t help the NDC’s cause. He is angry that even though President Mahama has acted to streamline governance, there are still some people parading the corridors of power who he sees as those responsible for the NDC’s loss of “high moral ground.” Rawlings insists that such characters—who are part of the problem necessitating his gravitating toward the NDP—should have been “disorientated” or “kept out of the way” by President Mahama. To him, not until such characters are kicked out, the NDC cannot regain the high moral ground nor will he wholeheartedly do anything in the party’s favour. These are very serious threats to be tackled with swift and decisive action. Dismissing Rawlings from the NDC won’t necessarily collapse the party or detract from its political fortunes at the elections. It will rather help clean the stables and bring together those who see the NDC beyond the Rawlings personality cult level. I call on Dr. Kwabena Adjei and his team to rise up to the occasion and act as such. After all, whatever Rawlings might mean to the NDC, he has now demonstrated a dangerous chameleonic quality that must not be glossed over. It is not as if without him, the NDC will fold up. We can tell from what has been happening over the past few months that the party has begun its electioneering campaigns that those who root for the party will continue to do so whether Rawlings campaigns or not. Genuine supporters of the party and sympathizers alike are not fixated on the Rawlings phantom nor will they reject the party just because Rawlings is not in it. I daresay that despite all the so-called benefits of Rawlings’ charisma, what he has been doing since the return of the party to power has shown a different and darker side of him, which is nauseating and detrimental to the NDC’s cause. To solve the problem of this Rawlings menace, the party has only one course of action—to get rid of him from its fold and damn the consequences. Obviously, those who see Rawlings as a repellent will not have anything to do with the NDC for as long as he remains there. Comments from many who would have supported the NDC indicate how much of a problem they consider Rawlings and the rippling effects that his utterances and actions have had on the NDC. Here is just a few of such sentiments, expressed by one Mensah Abrampah on Ghanaweb (June 29, 2012): “The insurrection that catapulted Rawlings to center stage of the political landscape was borne out of anger, envy, greed, contempt for the courts, rule of law and order and democracy in general. Remember how for no justifiable cause they murdered three judges and a retired army major. Remember Rawlings aversion to democracy and his statement to the effect that democracy slows him down? Remember the culture of silence they imposed on Ghanaians? Remember the execution of three former heads of state and other high ranking military officers without trial? Nothing has really changed because it’s the same people, same party, same agenda, same ideology. They have no regard whatsoever for law and order and democratic principles.” Serious, very serious negative impressions. An indictment that can’t be wiped off easily, especially when the very person at issue is still on the political scene doing things as if he owns the very air that Ghanaians breathe! This is the challenge facing the NDC: How does it change this negative impression and win goodwill from such people? Get rid of Rawlings once and for all. He isn’t indispensable!! • E-mail: mjbokor@yahoo.com • Join me on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/mjkbokor