Kick Out Babies With Sharp Teeth From Governance – Rawlings

Jerry Rawlings

Founder of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Jerry John Rawlings has challenged President John Dramani Mahama to ‘throw out’ of his government some individuals he (Rawlings) describes as ‘babies with sharp teeth’.

According to the former president, those babies have destructively used their ‘sharp teeth’ to bite ruthlessly at some members of the party who worked tirelessly to ensure the NDC came to power, thus causing those aggrieved persons to respond in equal manner and consequently breeding divisions in the party.

Mr Rawlings was speaking at his party’s National Delegates’ Congress held at the Baba Yara stadium in Kumasi Thursday.

Mr Rawlings, who has spearheaded some of the damning criticisms of the NDC – accusing its members and government, then led by late President John Evans Atta Mills, of abandoning the principles of probity and accountability upon which the NDC was founded – stated that electoral victory for John Mahama will depend on how quickly he can restore integrity to the presidency, the government and the NDC.

And in order to restore that integrity, Mr Rawlings insisted, some divisive elements in the government who had consistently maligned and vilified others must be reined in.

“…It is often said that we should not throw out the baby with the bathwater…but then what do we do when some of the babies in the tub don’t look like babies?

“They are babies with hard teeth … (which they can use to) bite hard (and) spill some very horrible invectives,” the former president claimed.

“…Should they not be lowered even if we don’t want to throw them out with the dirty water…?” Mr Rawlings queried, insisting that “one bad nut is all it takes to spoil the taste in your mouth”.

Likening the scenario to the process of crossing a wooden bridge with rotten planks, Mr Rawlings asked: “Do we wait to get new planks before removing the rotten ones or do we remove the rotten ones immediately in order to prevent the potential loss of limbs of somebody falling and breaking his legs or somebody falling and losing his life?”

The NDC founder, while acknowledging that some members of the party “feel we must leave the rotten (planks) there till we cut news ones”, sharply disagreed with that position, saying “No, if you can remove some of the rotten ones, at least we can avoid standing on those (rotten) ones…we will go past those ones but if we leave them there we are inviting disaster.”

Read below the full speech Mr. Rawlings read to Congress 

ADDRESS BY H.E. JERRY JOHN RAWLINGS FORMER PRESIDENT OF GHANA AND FOUNDER OF THE NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS

SPECIAL DELEGATES CONFERENCE – KUMASI, AUGUST 30, 2012

Mr. Chairman, Mr. President and the Vice President, Nananom, members of the Council of State, members of the Diplomatic Corps, members of the security agencies, delegates, party members and supporters, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:

I would like you to join me in congratulating our new President for responding to an urgent request I made to him to use his authority to help provide street lights to a few villages where a spate of killings – which have increased drastically over the past year – have been taking place with well anticipated impunity.

I had tried over the past year or more to draw the attention of some personalities and state institutions to the brutal killings, especially of women. I almost got the impression that some authorities did not want the re-emergence of these killings to be made public for reasons best known to themselves.Some of the opposition media however exposed it.

While I am grateful to the President for his intervention, it is important that the lukewarm attitude of some of these authorities is investigated.

There is nothing more disheartening than poor villages being forced to stay indoors from 7pm because of the threat of kidnap and murder.

President John Mahama, today is your first hurdle towards being an elected President. Electoral victory will depend on a number of things – how quickly you can restore integrity to the Presidency, your government and to the party.

Mr. President, fellow Ghanaians it is said that we should not throw out the baby with the bath water, 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?

Fellow countrymen and women, the uncivilized tendency of poking thoughtlessly people who have sacrificed for both party and country, and later attempting to embrace them for political expediency, must stop. Let us begin to show civility towards each other, in the hope that it is not too late. How much credibility can be restored between now and the elections?

Mr President, those who have been sitting in the comfort of their homes both home and abroad waiting for others to win the elections for them, better wake up and hit the campaign trail.

The NDC as a party is composed of diverse political persuasions, groups and interests. It is therefore crucial that all these interests and their contributions to the continuous survival of the NDC are recognized, carefully weighed and harmonized at all times.

It is in the NDC’s interest to re-engage and remain focused on its core values, ideals and traditions of truth, honesty, integrity and justice. These are the cherished ingredients that have sustained the party over the past two decades.

Fellow countrymen and women, Ghana is a country many were proud to die for. Can we say so under the prevailing political climate? These are defining moments for the party and as we find ourselves at a crossroads let us use this gathering to get back to the noble principles and values that have always distinguished us from other political traditions.

It is crucial for us to reaffirm the party’s values and commitments, to hold them up against hard reality and to truly assess what legacy we are bestowing to the next generations.

Thank you and God Bless.