General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has criticised the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) for crying more than the bereaved, following the death of former President Jerry Rawlings.
Mr Nketia told journalists after signing the book of condolence opened by the party in his honour on Friday, November 13 that the same people who vilified Mr Rawlings and withdrew his privileges and entitlements as a former president are now celebrating him.
He, however, recognised that the government has the powers to give Mr Rawlings a state burial because of his stature as a former Ghanaian leader.
He said: “It is interesting to note that people who didn’t give president Rawlings his honour and privileges as a former president of the Republic, people who fought tooth and nail to make sure that his principles are obliterated through the scrapping of 31st December as a holiday and June 4 as a holiday and at every celebration of the June 4 including the very last one, we are vilified and insulted and threatened with court action to force NDC to delete June 4, are the guys who are pretending to be weeping more than the bereaved.
“We are not going to usurp the power of the president in honouring a former president, we are not going to usurp the power of the immediate family in celebrating the life of their dear one, we are not going to prevent the family in Anlo from honouring president Rawlings but we also deserve to honour our Founding Father otherwise, the party will not be worth dying for.”
Mr Rawlings died at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra on Thursday, November 12, 2020, after a short illness.