Ex-presidents need to become ordinary

Nov 28, 2001

A rather sentimental pan-Africanist from Ghana was so embarrassed at Jerry’s antics that he took off his name tag

I have been in Accra for the past week. It is my first time since the December 2000 electoral upset that saw the ruling NDC of former President Rawlings defeated by the opposition alliance led by the NPP. In almost 20 years, it is the first time to arrive in this country without JJ Rawlings breathing down my neck, staring at one from official portraits, or haranguing audiences on television. The atmosphere is almost like the europhoria that attended the independence of many African countries. It is of course very difficult to get rid of the two decades of Rawlings regime, but there is an optimism among Ghanians to make democracy work and prevent any military take over. The former president and his party do not seem to be adjusting to their role as opposition too well. It is not easy when you have become used to having your way but it is part of the democratic culture for them to learn to have their say even if they cannot have their way. There appears to be problems in the party as it prepares for its first congress since the electoral defeat. Rawlings is trying to assert his authority as the founder leader of the party, while others in the party are trying to wean it from his whims and caprices. It is not easy for the former president to adjust to Life outside the Osu castle (state lodge). I saw a taste of his executive withdrawal syndrome at an African Union and UNICEF Consultative meeting in Cairo sometime last June. Rawlings was one of the B-list celebrities of ex-this, ex-that invited to lend some gravitas to the occasion. Mr Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-General, had tried to help Ghana’s stability by appointing him Special Envoy for the Eradication of Malaria. The unwritten expectation was that the more time he spent away from Ghana and other ‘worthy causes,’ the less the likelihood of his mischief making. After all didn’t they say that “an idle mind is the devil’s workshop’? Unfortunately, old habits die hard. President Rawlings virtually took us prisoners for the three days. He was constantly taking the floor giving pedestrian lectures on all topics and issues except the one on the agenda. It was obvious that the man had become used to talking uninterrupted and having monologues. But it was pathetic. From initial anger many of us became ‘sympathetic’ to his problem. He simply had to unlearn being president, taking his turn and respecting procedures of ordinary mortals. A rather sentimental senior pan-Africanist from Ghana, at the meeting, Atukwei Okai, was so embarrassed at Jerry’s antics that he took off his name tag identifying him as coming from Ghana, so that nobody could ask him to account for his former president. I am not sure if Mr Kofi Annan’s attempt to pacify Rawling’s ego is better served in that Special Envoy capacity because his erratic behaviour seems to be detracting from the issues his high profile was supposed to focus on. As old habits go, while still in Accra I read reports about the infighting in the NDC that is pitching Rawlings against his former long term Foreign Minister, Dr Obed Asamoa. He is reported to have threatened to scuttle all Asamoa’s plans because he had successfully organised coups before. His dexterity in coups may have to be directed only at his own party now because Ghanaians simply have no time or use for it anymore. It was clear from a radio discussion we had yesterday on Choice FM, one of the many private radio stations operating in Accra and other areas of the country. Enthusiastic callers intervened in the discussions venting their anger at military rule and expressing their determination to resist any future unconstitutional changes of government. And they do have allies in the new Constitutive Act of the African Union that specifically bans coups and other undemocratic changes of government. The role of the media and especially the liberalisation of the airwaves in strengthening democracy and a culture of constitutionalism on this continent is not often discussed. In the past, all that a coup plotter needed was to capture the national radio station, make the dawn broadcast and the president would be on the run. Today, in many African countries this is no longer possible. Tajudeen28@hotmail.com

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