It is untrue that Ahwoi engaged me to 'talk back' at Rawlings - Omane Boamah
Former Minister of Communication, Dr Edward Omane Boamah has reacted to Professor Kwamena Ahwoi's book, "Working with Rawlings" and said the claim that he [Boamah] was engaged to "talk back" at former President Jerry John Rawlings was "untrue".
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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.
Those young politicians have been mentioned as the likes of 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."
Read also: We persuaded Mills for four hours not to resign as President – Prof. Ahwoi reveals
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.
Omane Boamah's response
But in a press statement issued Wednesday morning [August 5, 2020], Dr Omane Boamah said, "Respectfully, I need to place on record that this claim is wholly and completely inaccurate and untrue."
Below is a copy of his statement
DISCLAIMER – PROF. KWAMENA AHWOI’S BOOK – “WORKING WITH RAWLINGS”
I have read excerpts of the Prof. Kwamena Ahwoi’s Book, “Working with Rawlings” that appear to suggest I was among a group of young politicians, who were purposely engaged by him and others to respond to and “talk back” at former President Rawlings for the latter’s attacks on the personality of the late President of Ghana, His Excellency John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills.
Respectfully, I need to place on record that this claim is wholly and completely inaccurate and untrue.
As a young man and politician with core convictions, I was never engaged nor could I have allowed myself to be used by anyone to talk back at former President Rawlings.
My principled stand in defending the late President Atta Mills, without insults, against attacks I thought were underserved was borne out of my respect and appreciation of the personality of the late President Mills – the Asomdwehene, his pureness of heart and other sterling and unique qualities that he possessed to a fault.
The suggestion that my defence of the late President was part of a deliberate “strategy” by elders is irksome to me. It does not reflect my personality as a
politician of conviction and not of convenience.For the record, I state emphatically and unequivocally that any claim that I was a recruited participant in any such grand agenda could only be the result of an
inadvertent error in recollection and not founded on anything that remotely resembles the truth.SIGNED
Dr. Edward Kofi Omane Boamah
Former Minister of Communication
5th August, 2020
Writer's email: [email protected]
