LUNCH WITH FORMER PRESIDENT JERRY RAWLINGS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ACCRA 001308 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/07/2016 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL ECON GH SUBJECT: LUNCH WITH FORMER PRESIDENT JERRY RAWLINGS ACCRA 00001308 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: PolChief Scott B. Ticknor for reasons 1.5 d and e. ¶1. (C) Summary: The Ambassador hosted former President Rawlings, his wife, and four aides for lunch on May 19. The Ambassador explained at the start that the Embassy made it a policy to meet with all major party leaders in Ghana. She encouraged Rawlings and his entourage to share their vision for Ghana, and also solicited their comments on the state of the country. Rawlings delivered an emotional and disorganized critique of the current government of Ghana, stressing that average Ghanaians are suffering economically due to the current government's policies, and that President Kufuor has mishandled his relationship with the military. The entourage expressed disappointment with the recent praise that President Bush gave Kufuor in Washington. They assured us, however, that they are not anti-American. The Ambassador noted the U.S. interest in broad political dialogue in Ghana, adding that Embassy reporting and interaction with the government is balanced and fair. End summary. ¶2. (C) On May 19, Ambassador hosted lunch for former President J.J. Rawlings, his wife Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings and four of his aides. DCM, EconChief, USAID Director, Consular Chief and DATT briefed the Rawlings entourage on their roles in the Mission and on how they see Ghana. The Ambassador told Rawlings that the USG has had an ongoing dialogue with his National Democratic Congress (NDC) party and that it is a matter of mission (and USG) policy to interact with all political parties in Ghana. We recognize that he and the NDC have contributed to Ghana's successes, she said, and urged him to offer his thoughts on the state of the country and on the U.S.-Ghana bilateral relationship. ¶3. (C) Rawlings was rambling and at times emotional, making the following main points: On Politics: Kufuor is persecuting the Rawlings' and the NDC. Mrs. Rawlings described Kufuor as "vicious and vindictive", alleging that he was working to undermine her and her December 31 Women's Movement, and claiming the NPP has depicted her as a thief, which has hurt her ability to raise funds. She said the ongoing court case alleging she was involved in corruption is politically motivated without basis in fact. In response to a question about the seemingly growing rift between the NPP and NDC, Rawlings stated that Ghanaians are not polarized. Rather, they are united against the NPP. On the Economy: Rawlings and his group praised the role of women in development and society. However, they insisted that the average Ghanaian has not seen an improvement in his or her pocketbooks. Schools are overcrowded. Corruption is rampant. Prices are high. In an emotional outburst, Ms. Rawlings accused the current government of manipulating economic statistics to create an illusion of economic progress, arguing that growth was much lower and inflation higher than the official reports. She rejected EconChief and USAID Directors' suggestions that the Ghanaian economy and government economic policy were moving in the right direction, stating that international donors' compliments of the GOG's handling of the economy are unwarranted and uninformed. She disagreed that Ghana is enjoying unprecedented economic opportunities due to high gold and cocoa export revenues, increasing donor assistance, and sound macroeconomic policies. Instead, she and other member of the Rawlings group suggested outdated protectionist and statist policies as alternatives to the current government's economic policies. On the Military: When asked about possible unhappiness in the lower ranks of the armed forces, Rawlings recounted in great detail his role in the coups of 1979 and 1981, making the point that the lower ranks were angry and had threatened significant violence. He justified the decision to execute senior military leaders as required to prevent even greater violence. He alleged that Kufuor has not handled the military particularly well, removing a large number of senior enlisted men -- some of the best in the military -- because he questioned their loyalty. On the U.S.: The NDC does not hate America, Rawlings stated. He and his entourage pointed out that many of them have family and educational ties to the U.S. and that strong US-Ghana relations began under the Rawlings regime. However, Rawlings was frustrated that the U.S. was squandering its ACCRA 00001308 002.2 OF 002 power worldwide and was "not telling the truth". He opined that we let Kufuor "upstage" us in his recent trip to Washington. ¶4. (C) Rawlings' assistant Victor Smith expressed frustration with President Bush's praise of Kufuor at the White House, especially for Kufuor's efforts to curb corruption. He hoped the Embassy was reporting corruption and governance problems to Washington. Ambassador said she had seen Rawlings' public criticism of the U.S. and President Bush. She assured the former President that the Embassy reports on governance problems here in a fair, balanced manner, including in the Embassy's public reports, and that we raise these issues publicly and privately with the government. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶5. (C) Rawlings and his team were warm and engaging and appeared to genuinely appreciate the dialogue. Rawlings acknowledged the Embassy's earlier outreach to the NDC, including making a birthday cake for the NDC Chairman and calling on NDC leader Atta Mills in his office. He wished other Embassies were as active -- an admission that few other foreign missions deal with him regularly. ¶6. (C) Any encounter with JJ Rawlings has an element of the bizarre. He booms forth his opinions (which are often overly emotional and difficult to follow),and then makes sure to ask others for their views. He loses track of his thoughts, grabs people around him (he grabbed the Ambassador's arm on several occasions),and fumbles with the two pairs of glasses dangling from his neck. He combines charm with a subtle sense of menace and confusion. None of his entourage offered intelligent opinions on economics or Ghanaian politics writ large. They lacked the polish of many other NDC leaders, such as the Atta Mills, the NDC's Presidential candidate in 2000 and 2004. Their main focus was the Rawlings' very personal, deep sense of grievance, which does not augur well for reconciliation with the NPP or Kufuor. The NDC leadership still harbors anti-American sentiment and misperceptions, which this lunch and our other outreach efforts helped to address. ¶7. (C) Despite his volatile nature, Rawlings is still a powerful political force in Ghana, and his magnetic but mercurial personality attracts ordinary Ghanaians, as evidenced by the line the Ambassador's staff formed to take pictures with "the leader," as his supporters call him. Given this influence, and his open animosity towards the current regime, it is easy to understand why the NPP is still afraid of him and his followers. End Comment. LANIER