Mrs. Rawlings to sue former President Kufuor

By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi

The wife of former President Jerry Rawlings, Nana Konadu Agyemang-Rawlings has threatened to sue former President Kufuor for charging her before court for stealing.

Mrs. Rawlings was put before court on six corruption charges in connection with the divestiture of the Nsawam Cannery Ltd.

She was charged in 2005 for theft, embezzlement and conspiracy to defraud the state, when her husband was President.

President Kufuor on his last day in office dropped all charges against her, and following the former president’s instructions, an Accra Fast Track Court discharged her Thursday January 15, 2009.

But in a statement issued immediately after the ruling, Mrs. Rawlings has threatened to sue the former President for soiling her hard won reputation.

She accused the former president of trying to “score cheap and shameless political points with my fundamental human rights as if he owned my life,” she said.

She wondered why former President Kufuor decided to discontinue the case on his last day in office.

She accused former President Kufuor of ensuring that all members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) who were put before court were sentenced. She therefore, expected to go to jail, “like a lamb being led to slaughter,” the statement said.

Mrs. Rawlings said Kufuor withdrew the case, knowing that if it continued under the NDC government, he would be exposed.

She questioned the rationale behind the decision to put her before court in the first place. She asked “if Kufuor thought there was any criminality in the purchase of the Nsawam Cannery what moral basis does he have to withdraw the charges?”

She said while the case was in court, millions of dollars have gone down the drain as she defended herself, while the project itself had been on hold, causing losses in millions of dollars to the tax payer.

“Is Kufuor going to refund all that? Would Kufuor ever be able to turn back the clock to restore to us our lost reputation?” She asked.

Mrs. Rawlings said if it was in another government, the former Attorney-General at the time would have been prosecuted for causing financial loss to the state.

She described the court action against her as an exercise in futility.

Mrs. Rawlings in the statement indicated that her legal team has been instructed to prepare a detailed report for the general public “to appreciate the disdain the previous government had for our liberties and its quest to tarnish our reputation at any cost.”

She therefore, indicated the possibility of bringing court actions against the former President and all others who she say colluded to tarnish her reputation.

Source: www.ghanabusinessnews.com