Veteran journalist Kweku Baako Jnr has weighed in on the ongoing debate following a resurfaced video of the late former President Jerry John Rawlings lamenting that he was maltreated by the Kufuor Administration.
According to Kweku Baako, questions continue to linger over the circumstances surrounding the controversy, including how many official vehicles Rawlings kept after leaving office.
In his Facebook post, Kweku Baako revealed he will be compiling and recollecting the raw and hard facts per official communication and exchanges between the two sides involved in the alleged saga of maltreatment during the Kufuor Administration and called on Ghanaians to stay tuned for more details.
In a Facebook post titled “Did President Kufuor Ever Accuse Rawlings of Stealing 19 State Vehicles Upon His Exit from Government? Fact or Fiction?” Kweku Baako wrote, “ *Me: A video recording is doing rounds on various social media networks, including FACEBOOK in which the late former President Rawlings is seen and heard lamenting that he was maltreated by the Kufuor Administration after he (Mr. Rawlings) had exited Government after nearly 20 years in Office as Head of State and President of the Republic of Ghana.
This “revelation” by our late former President has attracted huge public interest, leading to some critical commentaries and harsh critique of former President Kufuor.
This is not the first time the alleged maltreatment of the former President by the Kufuor Administration has been brought to the frontburner of public discourse. And might not be the last time.
However, what exactly were/are the issues? Did the late former President’s lamentations really transpired?
Which part of his lamentations were factual? And which ones were fictional? Or were/was it a mixture of both?
And what might have occasioned the heated public controversies about how many cars Mr..Rawlings took away from the Castle/Presidency to his private residence for his private use upon his exit from Government in January 2001?
For now, I shall be compiling and recollecting the raw and hard facts per official communication and exchanges between the two sides involved in the alleged saga of maltreatment during the Kufuor Administration.
Stay tuned for more….”
Reports suggest that, in the year 2001, after former President Rawlings left office, he was no longer accorded courtesies that were due him under the provisions of the 1992 Constitution.
“Although it was embedded in the 1992 Constitution that neither the President nor the Foreign Minister has the power to vary the pensions and facilities available to the former President to his disadvantage during his lifetime, those privileges were withdrawn by the then Kufour administration.
Also, Rawlings had his monthly pension re-computed based on the Greenstreet report. The Greenstreet report was the recommendation of a committee set up by the Kufuor administration to discuss ex gratia awards for ex-Presidents of Ghana”, reports stated.
The NPP government led by Kufuor retrieved all state vehicles in the custody of ex-President Jerry John Rawlings, among others.
Meanwhile, Former President John Agyekum Kufuor has boldly stated he does not regret withdrawing the diplomatic passport and courtesies of the late Jerry John Rawlings.
In a resurfaced old video of former President Kufuor, he revealed he never regretted withdrawing the diplomatic passport and courtesies of former President Jerry John Rawlings for smearing him on an international stage.
Speaking in the resurfaced video, in an interview with Bola Ray, when quizzed if he regrets withdrawing the former President Jerry John Rawlings diplomatic courtesies, Kufuour stated, “Do you know what he did to me, please don’t let us go into that. Not pay back, but I was the sitting head of state, he was formal and sitting in a way that personifies the state”.
“When you go out to some foreign lands to speak, to describe your sitting head of state as incompetent and a disgrace to the nation, suppose it was his time, you think you could have said that about him and come back to Ghana?”.
“He came after such a trip, demanding that all of these things that courtesies be extended. So I said no when you use the word courtesy you should know that it is give and take. We withdraw so you don’t do it again”, he added.
When quizzed if he regretted his actions, Former President Kufuor boldly stated, No’, he does not regret doing that.
See the post below:
