Jerry Rawlings for President?

In following the build-up to the 2008 presidential elections in Ghana, you would think that Jerry Rawlings is the NDC ‘flag- bearer’. The guy is at every major conference held in country, and has something to say about everything the rival NPP does. You would never guess in a million years that Professor Atta Mills is, in fact, the NDC’s presidential candidate. The man is articulate and has some pretty decent policies, which would certainly help out some of the poor people up north. The only problem is that we never hear about them. And when something is said, it seems to be overshadowed by a comment ‘J.J.’ has made about say, a police escort the rival presidential candidate from the NPP received, or how the incumbent president is squandering monies.

Love him or hate him, individually, Jerry Rawlings has played a significant role in making Ghana what it is today: a democracy, which is certainly a paradox in Africa. But let us not forget that he launched the privatization project in the country; implemented the decentralization project, which diminished his – and the NDC’s – popularity among many influential chiefs; and that he ruled the country for 18 years, 10 as a dictator, and eight as a democratically elected president. There are those who would argue that these were necessary steps for modernizing Ghana, and that he should not be condemned for doing these things. People in the north are crying for change, hoping that the NDC come into power and replace an NPP government which they claim, has done nothing to raise their living standards. I often see their point but it is not these votes that the NDC need to win but rather those of the people in Accra who ‘remember’.

These are the people who benchmark the current regime against the 18 long years under Rawlings. ‘Yes, there has been money squandered and we are ever-increasing our debt under NPP,’ one finance officer I met randomly at a chop bar in Accra told me over lunch one day. ‘But it’s better than this foolish guy before him.’ I am by no means suggesting that J.J. is foolish. In fact, his passion is to be commended: he is a soldier and fighter, who I think wants the best for his country. And, as the country’s first elected president since Nkrumah, he is naturally eager to provide inputs into some of the things he started. But people like the guy in the chop bar need not be reminded about J.J because at this crucial time, the NDC needs votes. I am not saying that NPP backers will turn to Prof Mills but as one of my colleagues from Tamale put it, ‘they would indeed listen to him if Rawlings keeps quiet’. But J.J. is not letting this happen. People will always be reminded as long as he keeps making the cameo at UN conferences, and continues to go public with his complaints about how the country is being run.

You would think that Jerry Rawlings is running for president.