‘No Man Should Apologise for Telling the Truth’ – Rawlings

No man should apologise for telling the truth, former president Jerry John Rawlings has said.

In his view, people must rather apologise for “lying, stealing, for corrupt practices and doing evil things and not the other way round.”

Mr Rawlings in a statement last week apologised to former president John Agyekum Kufuor and John Mahama for some unprinted words he used to describe them.

Mr Rawlings had said in a meeting he held with a delegation of chiefs and elders from Mepe in the Volta Region that if going to heaven meant sharing the place with Mr Mahama and Mr Kufuor, then he was better off going to hell.

In a U-turn, Mr Rawlings issued a statement withdrawing his comments and rendered an apology to the two former Ghanaian leaders.

The statement read: “The office of former President Jerry John Rawlings wishes to inform the general public that the former President has taken due note of concerns raised over certain publications arising out of a meeting he held with a delegation of chiefs and elders from Mepe in the Volta Region last Tuesday.

“The former President apologises to former Presidents John Agyekum Kufuor and John Dramani Mahama for the choice of words. He deems the words as inappropriate and withdraws them.”

But addressing a durbar to commemorate the 39th anniversary of the June 4 revolution in Accra on Monday, Mr Rawlings said: “No man must apologise for telling the truth. You must apologise for lying, for stealing, for corruption, for doing evil things and not the other way round. However, the story soon gets distorted and makes the situation bad that I have no choice but to render an apology for using harsh words.”

Source: ClassFMonline