Love me or hate me – Rawlings justifies his integrity

Former President Jerry John Rawlings has thrown a challenge to members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to either love him or hate him for what he stands for.

According to the former president, he is what is he today because of the values he applied himself to.

“Love me or hate me but for our party to survive, the core values of what I stand for have to be respected and embraced,” he said, adding “I am what I am because of those values and the NDC rose to the national relevance due to those values”.

Mr Rawlings was speaking at the 39th June 4 revolution commemoration held at Madina in Accra Monday afternoon.

According to Mr Rawlings, NDC could only put itself together when it embraces the values upon which the party was founded.

He expressed the worry that the core values of the party are no more respected by the current members of the party.

June 4

June 4 is the day a section of the Ghana Armed Forces led by Flt Lt Rawlings staged a revolt against oppression and corruption in the country in 1979.

Flt Lt Rawlings led a group of junior officers and men of the Ghana Armed Forces in an uprising against the then Supreme Military Council (SMC II) regime led by General F.W.K. Akuffo.

The move was motivated by a desire to stem the scourge of corruption that had engulfed the country at all levels and had led to a virtual breakdown of the economy.

Three months later, the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), led by Flt Lt Rawlings, handed over power to an elected government.