He claimed former President John Agyekum Kufuor should rather be referred to as the gentle giant because that’s what he’s known for and called by many.

Mr Rawlings, who got shocked by the words of the MC, quickly interrupted, saying “wait, who was he talking about? ........But Kufuor is the one referred to as the gentle giant. .....Yes but he’s called the gentle giant, you are trying to praise me but gentle giant I don’t hear it.”

This filled the lecture hall with laughter as he justified his stance on the ‘gentle giant’ issue while the MC tried to defend his words.

Speaking at a programme held by the Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung Foundation in Accra on Wednesday, Mr Rawlings spoke to the theme of the forum – ‘The Role of the Council of State: A Critical Assay’ – by calling for slight revisions to the constitutional provision on the composition of the Council of State.

He ended his lecture with an anecdote about the late South African leader, Nelson Mandela, narrating how the freedom fighter had to wait for a very long time in a “very rich” country for financial aid that never was.

According to him, when an emissary got to Mr Mandela who had waited for a long time at a designated venue of that country’s airport, he told the South African anti-apartheid fighter that the car bringing the cash was involved in an accident.

“Is the money also injured?” Mr Rawlings quotes Madiba as asking the emissary in the face.

Council of state

Former President John Agyekum Kufuor called on members of the Council of State to operate openly, exercise self-restraint and not obstruct governance.

The Council of State is enjoined by the 1992 Constitution (Reference Chapter 9, Article 89) to "counsel the President in the performance of his functions".

The council is required to “consider and advise the President or any other authority in respect of any appointment which is required by the constitution or any other law to be made in accordance with the advice of, or in consultation with the Council . . . ”

The council, upon request or on its own initiative, is to “consider and make recommendations on any matter being considered or dealt with by the President, a Minister of State or any other authority established by the Constitution.”

Speaking at the Accra Dialogue event at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) on the theme: ‘The role of the Council of State’, Mr Kufuor said, “I want to see a Council of State that operates openly, a Council of State that is master of its own procedures but a council of state that is self-restrained not to become obstructional to governance but that will only give time for maturation of policies before they are unleashed on the people for governance.”