After admitting to receiving a $2 million gift from Abacha in 1998 instead of the bandied about $5 million, Jeremiah John Rawlings has sought to extricate himself from the whirlwind his admission has created.
For one who is often on his high horse bellowing the need for probity, accountability and transparency, the shameless admission after earlier denials has shocked some who held him in such high regard and confirmed the suspicion of others that the man's word could not be taken to the bank.
It appears in an atempt to balance the scales, Mr Rawlings, Ghana's one time president has volleyed to the critics:  “Was my $50,000 Hunger Project award used in establishing UDS also a bribe?
Mr Rawlings had won the Hunger Project prize of $50,000 in 1993 and then proceeded to donate the funds for the establishment of the University for Development Studies.Â
Papa J as he is fondly called sought to explain in a Daily Graphic interview why he made the admission to the Nigerian Guardian reporter:“We have allowed the $5 million lie to run when it was $2 million. I am tired of falsehood and liars all over the place. With the pile-up of lies and fabrication, I wanted to set the record straight once and for all. That money did not go for my personal use and was not meant to influence me to whitewash Abacha’s image.â€
He added “…When Mandela was going round the world soliciting for funds and he came here for support we were privileged to contribute $1 million. Can this contribution be called bribery?†a baffled Rawlings asked.
But for many, questions remain as to if the gift constitutes a conflict of interest situation or outright bribery on the part of Mr Rawlings .
Was it Sani Abacha’s private money he sent to Ghana's president?
What was the motive of giving such a sum be it $2 million or $5 million?
What service, favour was to be returned?
How was the supposed $2 million used?