Rawlings' Death: Asiedu Nketia Wants June 4 Holiday

The General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia believes making June 4 a public holiday will be a good way to honour the memory of former President Jerry John Rawlings.

According to him, such a holiday will energize Ghanaians and give them an opportunity to reflect on the principles of the June 4 revolution.

Speaking at the special vigil to honour ex-President Rawlings in Accra, Mr. Asiedu Nketia suggested that the NDC party, if elected in the 2020 polls, will ensure that the day is made a holiday.

“Let us fight to come to power. Let us revisit the idea of June 4 becoming one of the national holidays. We can only do this when we are in power. In opposition, it cannot be done,” he said.

Asiedu Nketia also challenged the Akufo-Addo to make June 4 a public holiday to prove that indeed he recognizes the late President Rawlings as a great man who has contributed significantly to the country’s development.

“If the current government thinks that President Rawlings was a great man, then let them honour his great works and his great works can be remembered if we observe June 4, at least for one day when the nation will stand still, go back and review what June 4 stood for and to re-energize ourselves to live by the principles,” he said.

Mr. Nketia asserted that corruption and nepotism under the Akufo-Addo is worse than what triggered the June 4, 1979 revolution.

He indicated that security agencies and other institutions are unable to challenge the instructions of government and top government officials even if those instructions are not in the interest of the public.

He called for the spirit of “positive defiance” among the citizens to safeguard the country’s democracy and prevent some selfish persons from having their way and looting state resources.

“What is happening today? The nepotism we are seeing, the corruption we are seeing, which in several ways can be said to be worse than what prevailed before the June 4 [revolution]. It is happening because we have abandoned the important principles of positive defiance. The best way for us to remember President Rawlings is to go back that principle and pledge to live by them,” Asiedu Nketia said.

---citinewsroom