Former Defence Minister, Dr Benjamin Kumbour, says some National Democratic Congress (NDC) personalities have forsaken the primary pillars upon which late former President Jerry John Rawlings founded the political party.
Mr Rawlings is most remembered for successfully leading two coup d’états on the principles of probity, accountability, and equitable distribution of national resources.
Like him, several individuals share the idea that certain elements have abandoned these principles for personal parochial gains.
Dr Kumbour recounts in a yet-to-be-aired episode of On the Record, the unhappiness expressed by the former President, Mr Rawlings, on the changes in the NDC over the years.
“I think that was his biggest Achilles heel because his conclusions after every conversation we had will always be about how people paid the ultimate price for one-tenth of what is going on today.
“Most of our comrades – good ones – lost their lives in the process of both June 4th and 31st December. That was his biggest regret because there is nothing to show that the people really died for Ghana to be a better place, from the indications of what was happening.
“And he was angrier when he perceived that some of these things were taking place within his own political party. That was his biggest problem,” he said.
Dr Kumbuor was commenting on the demise of the former President, whose tragic death occurred on Thursday, November 12, at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.
He was 73 years old.
Mr Rawlings ruled the country from 1981 to 2001 and also for a brief period in 1979.
He led a military junta until 1992, and then served two terms as the democratically elected President of Ghana.
President Nana Akufo-Addo, in remembrance of the charismatic leader, has ordered seven days of national mourning, and the flying of all national flags at half-mast as a sign of respect.
