THE DESPERATE WIFE AND THE SMART HUSBAND: THE LEGACY OF LADY MACBETH It is said that behind every strong man there is a strong woman. So is it that behind every strong woman there is another woman-her mother, sister, auntie, daughter and perhaps herself. We shall see the truth in this if we take time to reflect on the recent moves of Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings. Her sheer desperatism seems to be pushing her into the direction of Lady Macbeth. She started her political career as a wonderful first lady but is now ending it in the wrong direction. Is she under the influence of her husband? Before we look into her recent “Be bold” slogan, let us dive into her past achievement as a first lady. THE GOOD OLD KONADU. Mrs. Konadu Agyemang Rawlings is one of if not the most active first lady Ghana has ever seen. Her days as the first lady saw the empowerment of Ghanaian women both in therural and urban centers. She successfully organized Ghanaian women under an Umbrella of development she named the 31st December women movement. That movement became a model for many African first ladies and beyond. She was a strong advocate of family planning at the family level. She discouraged early marriage among young females and was instrumental in the drafting of the intestate succession law which allowed widows to inherit the properties of their deceased spouse. Under her leadership, the 31st December women movement was able to erect 870 pre-schools in Ghana. These achievements of hers earned her a lot of awards and honors across the world. Notable ones are the Peristrofi World Honorary International Award (2013), Honorary Doctorate Degree (Lincoln university-1995) and was also nominated for The 2013 Africa’s Most Influential Women in Business and Government Award to mention but a few. This great lady was indeed a star, worth emulating. In 2009, she was elected by congress to become the first vice-chair of The NDC. She is the first female in Ghana to climb that position. THE TRANSITION The period between 2001-08 was a misfortune for the Rawlingses. Ghana between that period of time was governed by the Kufuor led LOOTING BRIGADE. That Government spent much time witch hunting the top gurus of the old administration. The Rawlingses were not left out. Former President J.J Rawlings was stripped off some of his protocol privileges. His wife who was no mire the first lady was replaced by the INACTIVE Theresa Kufuor. She was dragged to the Accra Fast Track High Court for causing financial loss to the state in the divestiture of the Nsawam GIHOC Cannery. After about five years of litigation, the case against her was dropped by the then President Kufuor. It was one of the two bonuses he gave the NDCs when it became obvious to him that The Associate Professor of Law has won the 2008 Election. Mrs. Konadu and her family enjoyed the massive support of the NDCs during her trial at the court. Her usual strength was nowhere to be found during those times. Those were the quiet times of the good old first lady. THE BOLD AND DESPERATE WIFE It is early 2009; The NDC is back as the government of the day. This new NDC is not headed by the J.J Rawlings. The President is now the academic the Rawlingses themselves brought from the convocation of buildings to the east of the main entrance of The Premier University of Ghana. By extension they deserve some gratitude. This is especially so because The Rawlingses were seriously involved in the election campaign that brought Mills to power. Konadu is said to have served as a pooling agent somewhere in the Ashanti Region. More so, Mills’ victory at congress was largely due to the famous Swedro Declaration- “wei ne me dɔbaaɔsɔmani”. He certainly must respect them. The Rawlings family motivated by nostalgia submitted a list of names of persons they wanted to see on the Cabinet of the new administration. It is also well known that they wanted Mrs. Betty MouldIddrisu(CHIEF WAYOMITE) to be the running mate of the Mills ticket. Mills swiftly refused. The power drunken Couple became stirred, Prof. Mills is undermining their authority-who born dog. TobgeAmefiato the 5th started throwing bombs at the Mills’ administration-accusing the administration of corruption and reluctance to prosecute the LOOTING BRIGADE of the Kufuor led administration. Their accusations could not stand, they started heaping insults on Mills, Atta Mortuary man (etc.). Kufuor has suffered the same fate from the couple- Kufuor nie, Atta Ayinie! Early 2011, Nana Konadu added her voice to the missiles of her beloved husband. Campaign posters bearing her pictures started appearing, she was in to contest Prof. Mills for the NDC flagbearership. Was that a bad idea? The world has already seen many a single family occupying the presidency of their country. We have the Bush Family in the US, the Nyasengbe Family in Togo and recently the Kenyata family in the Republic of Kenya. Particularly starling is the cultural trend in South Asia. There has developed in that part of the world the phenomenon of female succession to a male former leader/President. A male President/leader is overthrown; a woman in his blood line takes over as a new leader. In Srilanka, Prime Minister Solomon Bandaranaike was killed in 1959. His widow succeeded to the leadership of his party and even ascended to the position of a Prime Minister. In India the daughter of the country’s founding prime minister;Jawharalul Nehru-Indira Gandhi also became the leader of that great country. Pakistan also saw the coming of Benazir Bhutto-the daughter of a strong political figure. Outside Asia, the US also saw the like of Konadu’s attempted succession. It happened with Mrs. Hillary Clinton. There is nothing wrong with Konadu contesting for the position of a flag bearer of a party her husband founded. There is however everything with her tactics and strategy- they were soiled with mischief and arrogance. The contest she embarked on was motivated by her power drunken ambitions. She saw her “smoothness level” at the Sunyani Congress. Eventually the NDP came into being. By this time, her smart husband was gradually withdrawing himself from her influence-he did what Macbeth could not do. At the electoral commission she fired and Afari Gyan fired back. The smoke of the EC’s fire was far too nicotinic; she eventually had to give up. What does she want? Be bold!-clergymen, chiefs and civil society groups. Madam Konadu, I am sorry to tell you that these people can never be bold. Their ability to speak their mind went far under the 19 years rule of your “ANGELIC HUSBAND”. It is said that power is too much a burden for a woman to carry, how true is that? The answer is still in the womb of history.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Mar 2014 20:30:49 +0000
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