General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Johnson Asiedu Nketia has said the party recognizes the power of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo over the funeral of the late former president Jerry John Rawlings.
He told journalists on Friday November 13 that given that Mr Rawlings was a statement, the president has the powers under the laws to give him a state honour.
But he said, the NDC will also honour Mr Rawlings in their own way.
“We are not going to usurp the power of the president in honouring a former president, we are not going to usurp the power of the immediate family in celebrating the life of their dear one, we are not going to prevent the family in Anlo from honouring president Rawlings but we also deserve to honour our Founding Father otherwise, the party will not be worth dying for,” he said after signing the book of condolence opened by the party in his honour on Friday November 13.
He further accused the governing New Patriotic Party of crying more than the bereaved.
He said the same people who vilified Mr Rawlings and withdrew his privileges and entitlements as a former president are now claiming to be celebrating him.
He said “It is interesting to note that people who didn’t give president Rawlings his honour and privileges as a former president of the Republic, people who fought tooth and nail to make sure that his principles are obliterated through the scrapping of 31st December as a holiday and June 4 as a holiday and at every celebration of the June 4 including the very last one, we are vilified and insulted and threatened court action to force NDC to delete June 4 worth celebrating, are the guys who are pretending to be weeping more than the bereaved.
Mr Rawlings died at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra on Thursday November 12, 2020 after suffering a short illness.
By Laud Nartey|3news.com|Ghana