Prof. Kwamena Ahwoi has disclosed that it was not easy for former President Jerry John Rawlings, to be convinced to return the country to constitutional rule.
According to the Former Local Government Minister, it was because the military ruler for more than a decade was obsessed with power.
He alleged that the late Justice Daniel Francis Annan, a former Speaker of Parliament and former National Security Advisor Captain Kojo Tsikata led the charge on Mr Rawlings to agree for a return to constitutional governance.
“This obsession with power was clearly one of the reasons Rawlings fell out with his comrades,” Mr Ahwoi wrote in his latest controversial ‘Working with Rawlings’ book.
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“Having been in power for 19 years, he could not imagine himself without power and he felt cheated out of power by his comrades who should have helped him retain power.”
Prof. Ahwoi in his book gave a detailed account of his 19-year work-experience with Ghana’s first President of the 4th Republic.
He also used the opportunity to answers on why Mr. Rawlings is no longer on good terms with his close friends from the PNDC days.
Mr Rawlings rose to national fame in May 1979 when his attempt to overthrow the Supreme Military Council II failed.
Jailed and freed on June 4, 1979, the former President emerged as the leader of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council.
Mr. Rawlings handed over power to the constitutionally elected Dr. Hilla Limann but returned on December 31, 1981, to take control of government through a coup.
He held on to power till Ghana transitioned to civilian rule in 1993 with Mr. Rawlings elected as President.
Prof. Ahwoi in his book lists Captain Kojo Tsikata, Ato Ahwoi, P.V Obeng, Kwame Peprah, Kofi Totobi-Quakyi as persons who worked closely with the former President yet became distant over the years.