Tempo (Lagos)
Joke Adisa
27 October 2000
opinion
Lagos — The ghosts of some top military officers executed in controversial circumstances in Ghana by President Jerry Rawlings over two decades ago continue to haunt his administration.
When on 10 June 1979, the new military government of the then Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings publicly executed a former Head of State, General Ignatius Kutu Acheampong along with a former Border Guard Commander, Major- General Edward Kwaku Utuka at the Teshie Military Shooting Range in Ghana, a shocked international community was awaken to the reality of a huge crack in the cohesion of the Ghanaian armed forces.
A bereaved Ghanaian nation was still to get over the execution when, 10 days later, six senior military officers, two of whom were past military heads of state, were publicly executed. They were, General Fred William Kwasi Akuffo and Lt.-General Okatakyire Kwasi Amankwa Afrifa.
For a military regime that was barely one week in office, substantiating its allegations against the executed officers expectedly proved a hard nut. The government which came in on 4 June 1979, has after a hurriedly arranged Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) Special Courts ruling, found the officers guilty of charges of using their positions to amass wealth to the detriment of their country.
Now, two decades after, President Rawlings, the country's incumbent President is still fighting laboriously to exonerate himself from the gruesome judicial murder. In most of his reflections on the episode, Rawlings admits his government erred; though, he has repeatedly expressed no regrets about the killings. Hear him, "I have no regrets about it. We had to take responsibility for it. The point is that, the biggest criminals were around and are still around." The soldiers, Rawlings admits, had by the succeeding military coups of 1979 and 1981 paid "a heavy price."
Already, in the last phase of his second coming as the country's head, Rawlings, is sounding it clear on the ears of his perceived enemies, mainly in the opposition camp to refrain from causing what he termed "another upheaval."
In his 3 June 2000 address, marking the 21st anniversary of the 4 June uprising occasioned by the coup he led, President Rawlings threatened: "If there should be another upheaval and God forbid, the civilian will pay a heavy price."
But critics of his administration are pointedly accusing Rawlings of being the leader of both upheavals. To many, Rawlings has done little or nothing to remedy the injustices which led to the upheavals after over 20 years in power. The basis for the selection of the victims of the 1979 killings, many say, has never been clear-cut. According to the national organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), "the inclusion of General Afrifa in the execution list up till today baffles my mind. That was one of the most unfortunate events."
Like the NDC organiser, the former spokesman and number two man of the AFRC, Major (rtd) Kojo Boakye Djan is also chastening Rawlings for the killings. He is, in fact, taking Rawlings up on his 'no regrets' posture over the controversial execution. "On behalf of the AFRC members, functionaries and particularly those voiceless participants who are still serving in the Ghana Armed Forces, I have consistently reported that, those executions were regrettable but unavoidable, given the circumstances in which we had to operate and both the moral and legal principles and procedures for the executions that we had to use."
According to Djan, the officers were executed for "their ultimate responsibilities of illegal acts," crimes which he says are enforceable under "international and most national laws." In all of his justifications, however, Djan though, maintained that, there was nothing personal about the executions. "We all shared then, as we must now share both the collective responsibility and deep regret for the loss of those lives, however, necessary and unavoidable they were."
Djan is also expressing surprise at the actions of Rawlings. President Rawlings, he argues, has turned his back on the principles of 4 June and launching his 31 December 1981 military takeover of the civilian administration of Limann some nineteen years ago. Says Djan, "Rawlings ever had the need and the courage to clothe himself in the glory and protection that he hopes only 4 June can give him. For the principles behind the 4 June uprising and the 31 December 1981 coup are mutually distinct and exclusive."
Now, decades after and three months to the expiration of his second term as a civilian President, the exit of Rawlings from the corridors of power, analysts say, may open a floodgate of probe into his activities. But until that is done, Rawlings believes the blood in his hands could be justified.
Publication Date: November 2, 2000
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