Kweku Baako Criticises Rawlings

Former President Jerry John Rawlings says President Akufo-Addo's comment on the Ghana-US Military agreement was ‘hard’ but ‘important and timely.’

President Akufo-Addo during a national address on the agreement on Thursday condemned what he said was the “unspeakable hypocrisy of the fraternity of some front-line politicians, who make a habit of running with the hares and hunting with the hounds, who secretly wallow in the largesse of the United States of America, whilst, at the same time, promote anti-American sentiments to a populist constituency.” (Click to read)

The former President in his first reaction to the debate had said: “Ghanaians may love Americans, but not to the extent of living with foreign troops on such a scale. Ghanaians have enough foreigners dominating their economic and social life. Adding foreign troops to the discomfort would be a bit too much. Ghanaians have felt stateless before in my lifetime. Let’s not go there again” 

In a tweet after the President's remark, Rawlings remarked: “though the President’s address was hard, it was important and timely to hear him and the American Ambassador (earlier) affirm that there would be no military base established in Ghana. That was my major concern in my initial reaction to news of the agreement. The spirit of co-operation, be it military, or diplomatic has always been there. If there are details that warrant a second look, such details should be examined to create comfort for all sides”.

However according to Kweku Baako, the managing Editor of the New Crusading Guide newspaper, the former President should have checked his facts before making his initial comments.

"This is what former president should have done earlier…but he didn’t take his time to examine issues and he went to town and I criticised him for that…what Mr Rawlings has just said is what he should have said earlier or checked. He has access to the state and institutions of state including the presidency that he could have actually sort to verify those things but he added his voice to it in that negative way and he didn’t help matters..." he said during a panel discussion on Joy FM's newsfile programme, Saturday.