Former President Kufuor has accused President Atta Mills’ government of vilifying him and members of his government, after he peacefully handed over power to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) administeration.
According to him, the government is behaving as if there was a military takeover in the country. “When you look at the situation, it begins to look like there has been a coup d’état.
It wasn’t a coup d’état that changed governments. People went to the ballot and the votes were split almost equally,” he said.
Speaking in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) yesterday, Mr. Kufuor said the current government was constantly painting him black in the eyes of the public, instead of co-operating with him. According to him, he had selflessly served his country and should not be given the treatment that is being meted out to him.
The government has meanwhile denied the allegations made against it by the former President. The Deputy Minister of Information, Mr. James Agyenim Boateng, who spoke to The Chronicle in an interview yesterday, said President Atta Mills’ government continues to extend all courtesies that the former President deserves to him, and is therefore surprised about his outburst. “It is disingenuous and insincere for Mr. Kufuor to say such things.
What is he complaining of? Is it because his house was not raided as he did to the former NDC officials? Is it because his privileges and courtesies have not been withdrawn, as he did to Mr. Rawlings”, he asked rhetorically.
The soft-spoken Deputy Minister also disagreed with Mr. Kufuor’s assertion that he selflessly served the country. “I don’t agree with him when he says he selflessly served this nation. I don’t think so, because it was during his regime that his son bought a hotel at the cost of US$8 million.
He recreated the nation’s single highest award and awarded himself. He was accused by his own party chairman of collecting kickbacks at the castle, which he refused to give to the party.
Is this the standard that he expects us to follow? I think his regime was poor.”
The Deputy Minister of Information added that “In deed, his track record clearly shows that he did not serve this nation selflessly, on the contrary his regime was beneficial to him and his family only.”
Based on this assessment, Mr. James Agyenim Boateng urged Ghanaians to disregard the allegations and treat it with the contempt that it deserves.
Denying accusations of witch-hunting, he said President Kufuor was trying to take centre stage and draw attention to himself.
To him, whilst President Barrack Obama, the President of America had praised President Mills over his democratic credentials and rule of law, his openness and transparency, Mr. Kufuor is stating otherwise.
He was quick to add, “I am not surprised at the demeanor and the conduct of Mr. Kufuor. This is because it is the character of his tradition.
His tradition is full of vicious and vile propaganda. I would have thought that such utterances should have been made by party members, but not him,” he concluded.
