I was not recruited to 'talk back' at Rawlings - Kwakye Ofosu
Former Deputy Minister of Communication, Felix Kwakye Ofosu has debunked claims that he was recruited to attack the founder of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Jerry John Rawlings following his attacks on the personality of former President J.E.A. Mills.
“I wish to place on record that at no point have I been part of any plot, recruitment exercise or strategy to “talk back” at President Rawlings”, Ofosu Kwakye said in a statement in reaction to revelations contained in Professor Kwamena Ahwoi's book, “Working with Rawlings.”
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Prof Kwamena Ahwoi had stated in his book that former President Rawlings had fallen out with former President John Evans Atta Mills and was constantly attacking the personality of Mills, which even culminated in Mills onetime deciding to resign as President, but they [Kwamena Ahwoi, Captain [rtd] Kojo Tsikata, Totobi Quakyi] took about four hours to talk him out of it.
Prof Ahwoi indicated that their solution was to train and engage a group of young politicians, who were purposely to respond to and “talk back” at former President Rawlings for the latter’s attacks on the personality of Mills.
He mentioned those young politicians as Felix Kwakye Ofosu, Edward Omane Boamah and Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.
“Any time former President Rawlings attacked or insulted President Mills publicly, one of the younger members of the party would take him on publicly not with insults but logic,” Prof Ahwoi indicated.
They, the young politicians are the ones Mr Rawlings is said to have later referred to as "babies with sharp teeth."
Speaking on Footprints on Citi TV, Prof. Ahwoi said the late President Mills called him while he was at an IEA workshop at Aburi to inform him of his decision to leave office.
“There was one particular incident which caused President Mills nearly to resign. In fact, he resigned, the only thing that saved this country was that he called to tell me that he was resigning. I was at. [an] IEA workshop at Aburi. He said ‘have you heard what Jerry [Rawlings] has said about me in Tamale?’ he said, ‘get the tape and listen to it because I have resigned and I don’t want anybody to try and stop me.”
Prof. Ahwoi said he asked then-President Mills to give him time to consult a few people and get back to him.
“I said to him, ‘Mr. President, I believe that you have decided to resign, but I also believe that you are not sure whether you have taken the right decision. You want a second opinion, otherwise, you would not have called to tell me. I would have heard about it in the media.”
Prof Kwamena Ahwoi indicated that the following day [a Sunday] he, Captain [rtd] Kojo Tsikata and Totobi Quakyi visited President Mills on “Sunday evening at his residence and at the time, he [President Mills] had actually packed his things in suitcases, ready to leave.”
“So we talked for about four hours which ran into 12 midnight and we managed to convince him to stay because we were taking certain corrective measures,” he revealed.
“We were successful in those measures and as a result, he stayed. Otherwise, he was going to resign on an account of the way Jerry Rawlings was treating him,” he added.
Kwakye Ofosu's response
Read also: We persuaded Mills for four hours not to resign as President – Prof. Ahwoi reveals
Felix Kwakye Ofosu in a post on Facebook on Wednesday [August 5, 2020] wrote:
Correction
I have become aware of media reports suggesting that I was recruited together with others to denigrate or attack President Jerry John Rawlings following his criticism of the late President John Evans Attah Mills of blessed memory.
While acknowledging that the media reports are at best an exaggeration of portions of a book authored by the highly respected Prof Kwamena Ahwoi,I wish to place on record that at no point have I been part of any plot,recruitment exercise or strategy to “talk back” at President Rawlings.
It is a matter of public knowledge that I and others have rallied in the past to correct misimpressions created about the late President Mills during his tenure.My contribution to any such effort was based purely on principle,conviction and loyalty to the then President of Ghana and leader of the NDC.
I have never required prompting or goading to speak about what I believe to be right or wrong.
All my contributions in the said matter were devoid of insults or aspersions as claimed by the media reports.It is worth noting that the book in question speaks about our resort to logic rather than insults.
Any claim therefore that there was a grand design to malign anyone for criticizing President Mills is inaccurate.
*Felix Kwakye Ofosu*
Read also: It is untrue that Ahwoi engaged me to 'talk back' at Rawlings - Omane Boamah