<<Print>>

�IS JERRY John Rawlings leaving the National Democratic Congress (NDC) if Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, his wife, loses this NDC flagbearership race?� This was the question that some elements of the ruling party were asking before the NDC went for the polls. Former President Rawlings, on Saturday, speaking in proverbs said, �I hope I would have this opportunity to meet you again in future but if I don�t, I am giving you this word.� These were the words that preceded the NDC founder�s brief speech before the elections for the next flagbearer of the party began. Mr. Rawlings followed it up by lambasting the sitting government of missing several key political opportunities to deal with the rots of the past regime. This inefficiency on the part of the government, he said, had given room to the opposition NPP to take control of sensitive institutions like the Judiciary. �Political timing is very crucial,� he said, noting that the party�s inability to deal with the rots of the past regime would haunt the NDC. He said, �We are in political power but they are in control of institutions like the Judiciary and other key institutions.� Mr. Rawlings reiterated that the NDC might risk being punished by the opposition due to the failure on its part to deal with the mess created by past government officials. He explained, �No one has said that people should be arbitrarily arrested and jailed,� adding, justice and accountability which are key tenets of the NDC should be ensured. Meanwhile, President Mills, in what can be described as a direct reaction to Mr. Rawlings� comments, said, �The wheels of justice grind slowly.� He added that political parties won power to better the lives of the populace and that was exactly what he was aspiring to do. In related development, several NDC members that were present at the event said Mr. Rawlings� comments scared them. They stated that if Mr. Rawlings� comments were anything to go by, then the NDC founder was leaving the party. �Even if he doesn�t leave, he would not campaign for us in 2012 and we cannot win power without him,� a concerned NDC member said.