Amos Anyimadu

1. Background to my teaching of Rawlings at the Scottish Parliament at the University of Ghana,
Legon, in 2005.
Amos Anyimadu
Mar 24, '05 (11 years ago)Pin
to legonpoli404Show details
SentMark as UnreadReply to All More
From:
Amos Anyimadu <accraboy@fastmail.fm>
To:
legonpoli404 <legonpoli404@yahoo.com>
Subject:
Background Information. Political Dynamics. I.K. Gyasi on Richard Jeffries
Date:
Thursday, March 24, 2005 7:28 PM
Size:
9 KB
Copyright 2000 AllAfrica, Inc
Africa News
October 3, 2000
SECTION: NEWS, DOCUMENTS & COMMENTARY
LENGTH: 1348 words
HEADLINE: Ghana;
JJ's Scottish Disaster: Our Biggest Day Of Shame
BYLINE: I. K. Gyasi, Ghanaian Chronicle
BODY:
Accra - "Rawlings is a Ghanaian. His father happens to be Scottish."
I Have Listened to, and read, the reports of President J. J. Rawlings's
visit to Scotland with a strange mixture of sadistic glee, utmost
sadness and implacable anger.
Sure, I admit that I am happy at the discomfiture which President
Rawlings inflicted on his hosts when he supposedly addressed the
Scottish Parliament.
Perhaps to the whisky-distilling, bag-pipe playing, skirt-wearing,
world- famously thrifty and hardy, empire-building Scots, the visit of
Mr. Rawlings was a sentimental moment to be cherished even if, as was
reported, it was the Foreign and Commonwealth Office that shunted him
unto them.
After all, fifty-three years ago, one of their own, James Ramsay John, a
pharmacist and married man, had fathered a son clandestinely while
serving in an outpost of the then British Empire known as the Gold
Coast.
It did not matter that the baby was born "out of wedlock", (euphemism
for 'illegitimate'), and it did not matter that the woman who bore his

2. son was an African.
In any case, the son had also risen, in fact, much higher than the
father.
He had gone to a prestigious school founded by a British Governor who
was also a Scot. He had become an air force officer with the rank of
Flight Lieutenant. And he had obtained the ultimate 'prize', the
leadership of his country, first through violent means and, later,
through the ballot box.
It would definitely not be amiss to give this 'darkie' cousin the full
red carpet treatment: an address to their Parliament, an honorary
doctorate degree from a prestigious Scottish university, a guided tour
of the soil of his father, possibly a meeting with the John family and,
perhaps, a home in case he chose to visit later on or even possibly
settle.
SENTIMENTAL PLAN
Of course, the sentimental plan blew up in their faces as the President
from Ghana went off the rail of his prepared speech and crashed into
them with his notorious, off-the-cuff, inconsequential railings, raving
and ranting under which his countrymen and women have smarted for so
long.
James Ramsay John's son, Jeremiah Rawlings John, or more officially
known as ex-Flight Lieutenant Jeremiah John Rawlings, President of the
Republic of Ghana, had obviously failed to live up to their billing.
I would have given my right arm to see the faces and read the minds of
all those intellectual prostitutes and mercenary hacks who, for a fee,
had always been prepared to paint a glowing verbal picture of the man
they did not know as much as his own countrymen did. What are they going
to say or write again?
Believe it or not, I am genuinely sorry for Mr. Rawlings, and I have
more than one reason for it.
He tries to portray machismo, that is, aggressively masculine behaviour.
He seems to fit the description which writer Dashiell Hammett gives to
one of his characters in the novel, The GIRL WITH The SILVER EYES: "a
swaggering carriage, a blustering habit of speech, and an exaggerated
pretense of self- assurance".
That is it, an exaggerated pretence of self-assurance. For all the show
of machismo, there is an insecure child in him seeking attention,
comfort and assurance, hence the child-like tantrums so characteristic
of him.
deprived childhood
A deprived childhood (a reportedly stern mother and an unknown father)
and a harsh, pre-1979 life of deprivation and hardship have combined to
make him quixotically sympathetic and unbelievable violent.
I also feel sorry for him because continually sounding in his ears are
the insincere plaudits of a dishonest, self-seeking and sycophantic
entourage shamelessly exploiting his social, intellectual and
psychological inadequacies.
I refer to those who, only yesterday, prayed that the man would die of

3. boils and other afflictions, those latter-day saints who severely
criticised him on university campuses and elsewhere, those who,
politically, socially and financially were nobodies picked up from the
gutter by him and changed into what they are today.
The real enemies of Rawlings are not those who may be harsh but genuine
in their criticism of him.
The real enemies are those among his hangers-on who find words to
rationalise his every wrong move, every wrong utterance, those too
scared or too selfish to point out his wrongs, and instead, tell us to
accept him for what he is by nature or by training as a soldier.
It is these people who make me angry. I am placated somewhat on hearing
from someone like Joe Bradford Nyinah, Castle correspondent of the Daily
Graphic and unashamed apologist for President Rawlings, that the
Scottish Parliament was an "inappropriate" forum for the embarrassment
he caused in trying to defend himself.
Now which of his advisors brought up the asinine idea of a visit to the
land of his father's birth?
A long time ago, Mr. Rawlings decided that his Ghanaianness was more
important to him than his Scottish ancestory.
WIDE-RANGING INTERVIEW
In a wide-ranging interview which he granted to Andrew Walker of the
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in June 1979, the question of his
paternity came up. Below is a transcript of that portion of the
interview, which I recorded.
"Andrew Walker: We understand your father comes from Britain. Have you
ever been in touch?
J.J. Rawlings: Yes. I've been to Britain once. My father is Scottish,
you know. But, huh, eh, what is the essence of your question? Really, I
mean why do you ask?
A.W.: Well, because I'm from British Broadcasting Corporation.
Obviously, there is a certain interest in that particular angle, you
see, and what I was interested in was whether your father was still in
touch with you.
J. J. R.: Em, Mr. Walker, I'm going to tell you something. Heh. I met my
father once, when I was a little boy. When I came to Britain, I came
with the hope of meeting him, you know, just out of sheer curiosity, to
find out what kind of man is or was my father. But I think the shock was
a bit too much for him, you know, so I didn't bother to see him. I spoke
to him on the telephone and left. But, eh, my mother, my culture, my
environment here in Ghana is what, eh, em, is what has contributed to
what I am today. Okay? I do not regret what I am. I am very confident of
what I am.
A.W.: You are Ghanaian?
J.J. R.: I am a Ghanaian.
A.W.: Do you know where your father is?
J.J.R.: I don't know but, eh, he was in Dalbeattie the last time I was
there. I mean I wouldn't know if he is still there".

4. You see, the man says he is a Ghanaian but they tried to exploit his
Scottish ancestry.
So he went out there and, like a recalcitrant, mischievous child,
disgraced himself, embarrassed his hosts and shamed the rest of us.
Since he has up to January 6, 2001 to be president, and since his
handlers cannot or will not control him, we should brace ourselves for
more stomach ulcers, eggs in our faces and debilitating stroke cause by
his ill-mannered raving.
To me, the ultimate racist insult has come from Dr. Richard Jeffries,
formerly of the Centre for African Studies at the University of London,
who is said to have known Mr. Rawlings for over 20 years.
According to the Ghanaian Chronicle of Friday, September 22, 2000, Dr.
Jeffries stated: "I don't think he (Rawlings) consciously or explicitly
identifies with Scotland because it would be politically inappropriate
for him to do so."
RACIST INSULT
Here comes the racist insult from Dr. Jeffries: "However, I suspect his
strong moral principles come from his Scottish ancestry. Rawlings is
quite puritanical and must be the only African Head of State who has
never been found guilty of corruption."
So no African head of state can have moral principles unless he has
Scottish or white ancestry? What about Nelson Mandela or Quett Masire or
Julius Nyerere?
And who has tried Jerry John Rawlings for corruption? Is Dr. Jeffries
not aware that in Africa, it has always taken a change of government,
usually a violent one, for the full extent of the corruption of the
fallen head of state to be known.
LOAD-DATE: October 3, 2000
--
Amos Anyimadu