A former Member of Parliament (MP) for Ningo/Prampram, Enoch Teye Mensah, has described accusations by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) that the government has sidelined them with regards to burial plans for the late former President Jerry John Rawlings as unnecessary.
The NDC has accused the government of trying to hijack the funeral preparations of their Founder without due regard to the party he founded.
The NDC also accused the New Patriotic Party government of preventing its flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama, from signing a book of condolence opened in memory of Mr Rawlings at the Accra International Press Centre.
General Secretary of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, thus, directed officials of the party to open books of condolence at its offices nationwide.
READ ALSO:
He also announced that the party would hold a vigil on Sunday, November 15, 2020, to honour Mr Rawlings.
But, reacting to the development on Adom FM’s morning show Dwaso Nsem on Monday, Mr Mensah said Mr Rawlings was a statesman and therefore it was important that the NDC allowed the government to give the late President a State burial.
“The confusion the NDC is trying to cause is unnecessary. When Nkrumah died, the Convention People’s Party didn’t bury him, he was a statesman and the State took over. I think Akufo-Addo means well, he said Rawlings is the Founder of the Fourth Republic and the First President and so the State would have to give him a befitting burial,” he stated.
“For me, I think the NDC’s argument is a non-starter. Let’s call a spade a spade and allow the government to bury the late former president,” he noted.
Mr Mensah also believed the late President did not die a happy man because some members in the party he described as ‘babies with sharp teeth’ didn’t treat him well and took him for granted despite his achievements.
Listen to audio above: