Ghana: Ex-President Rawlings Questioned Over Call for 'Defiance'

13 August 2002
allAfrica.com
By Ofeibea Quist-Arcton

Dakar, Senegal — Ghana’s former president, Jerry Rawlings, was questioned Tuesday by the country's national security agency over comments he made urging Ghanaians to "defy" the government of his successor and current leader John Kufuor.

In a speech last Friday, Rawlings is reported to have accused President Kufuor’s administration of corruption and suggested that Ghanaians should use ‘positive defiance’ to challenge the authorities. Rawlings said: "we don’t have to wait for the next (presidential) election (in 2004) to prevent the rot."

The one-time Ghanaian leader also said Kufuor’s was the "worst government the country has ever had."

The attorney general and justice minister, Nana Akufo-Addo, explained that Rawlings had been called in for questioning on Tuesday, by the Bureau of National Investigation (BNI) to clarify parts of his speech. He added that the enquiry was to address "concerns of the government on (the) potentially treasonable nature" of what the former president had said.

The BNI was notorious under Rawlings for allegedly illegally detaining his opponents and critics.

Rawlings stepped down from power in Ghana last year, after completing his second four-year term, the limit set by the constitution. His then vice-president, John Atta Mills, who ran against Kufuor in the presidential poll, lost the election.

A former flight-lieutenant in the Ghana air force, Rawlings first came to power in a coup d’etat in 1979, but handed back power to a civilian government a few months later, only to stage a second military takeover in December 1981. He became an elected president in 1992, but was frequently heard to say that he felt hemmed in by constitutional rule.

An outspoken and passionate orator, Rawlings began criticizing the Kufuor government soon after it came to power. But his often angry outpourings have, to date, largely been ignored by the new administration, in office since January 2001.

Asked in June whether Rawlings remained a thorn in his side, Kufuor told allAfrica.com that his predecessor was free to criticise the government and say whatever he wanted, as long as he stayed within the law.

On Tuesday, Rawlings was quick to say his call for ‘defiance’ was well within the parameters of Ghanaian law and dismissed his interrogation as a farce. "I will always obey the law. I will always be in support of positive defiance. It’s no more than disobeying orders you consider unlawful," he said.

Rawlings told the BBC: "I was summoned and I obliged. They did not allow me to tape the proceedings or keep my aide in the room. For most of the time I lectured them about what I said and what it meant for this country."

Ghana’s information minister, Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, was clearly irritated by Rawlings’ remark. "The statements he was making were irresponsible and provocative. There is nothing wrong in criticizing the government. But there is something very provocative in calling for ‘positive defiance’. What does he mean by positive defiance?

The expression goes back to the days of Ghana’s first post-independence president, Kwame Nkrumah, who called for ‘positive defiance’ against the British colonial authorities.

The justice minister said that, under Ghanaian law, it was "treasonable felony to prepare or endeavour to procure by unlawful means any alteration of the law or policies of the government". He concluded that the government would take "all necessary steps to maintain the stability of the state."

Analysts are speculating that former President Rawlings may be a little edgy about the upcoming South African-style Truth and Reconciliation Commission set up by the Kufuor government in May. The Commission's remit is to probe rights' abuses under successive military regimes in Ghana, including those headed by Rawlings. The Commission is to conduct hearings and compile a report within a year, with a possible six month extension.

Rawlings supporters have already rejected the Commission, saying it will simply be 'witch hunt' of those in power during the Rawlings years.

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