By Benjamin Adamafio Commey, GNA
Accra, June 24, GNA – Mr Kofi Totobi Quakye, a former information minister, has urged the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to uphold the principles of probity, accountability and service that defined its founder, the late President Jerry John Rawlings.
He warned that failure to maintain those values could erode public confidence in the party and weaken trust in Ghana’s democratic system.
Mr Totobi Quakye issued the caution in Accra on Monday at the 79th Birthday Lecture and Exhibition in honour of the late President Rawlings, held on the theme: From Revolution to Fourth Republic: The Rawlings Legacy.
“The deeper danger is that we may help convince the Ghanaian people that the two dominant parties are in the end the same. That belief is corrosive. When citizens conclude that all parties are alike, they do not merely reject politicians, they reject the democratic system itself,” he warned.
Mr Totobi Quakye said the NDC was founded as a movement of purpose and not as a vehicle for personal enrichment or opportunism.
“The NDC was not founded as a vehicle for personal aggrandizement. It was not founded for opportunists, political mercenaries, contractors of convenience, or persons whose only ideology is personal profit,” he said.
Reflecting on his association with the late President, Mr Totobi Quakye described Rawlings as a leader whose influence shaped generations of political activists and public servants.
He urged that Rawlings’ legacy should not be reduced to nostalgia or ceremonial tributes but critically examined and lived.
“The legacy he left behind cannot be honoured merely through praise singing. It must be examined, it must be protected, above all, it must be lived,” he said.
Mr Totobi Quakye credited Rawlings with consolidating Ghana’s democratic credentials, particularly through the peaceful transfer of power in 2000, and urged NDC leaders to prioritise discipline, unity and service over personal ambition.
“There is nothing wrong with ambition,” he said, adding that ambition must be guided by sound judgment and timing to avoid undermining governance and party cohesion.
Mr Totobi Quakye also called on the Rawlings Foundation to invest in leadership development and preserve the experiences of those who worked closely with the late statesman.
Mr Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, General Secretary of the NDC, said the lecture series was intended to preserve and promote Rawlings’ legacy for both party members and the wider Ghanaian society.
“Today, we are seeing too much hurry to simply do the NPP things rather than do what NDC actually has always stood for, which is placing country always first,” he said.
Mr Kwetey described Rawlings as “a true child of destiny” whose values transcended party politics and should continue to inspire Ghana, Africa and humanity.
He urged the NDC to educate younger generations about the foundations of the party to ensure the movement remained strong and relevant.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Sackey
Reporter: Benjamin Adamafio Commey
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