Is President Rawlings Hallucinating Or Just Delusional?

Last week, Joy news in collaboration with some others released a documentary on the sordid political history of a Ghana featuring mainly on what it described as the truth behind the abduction and murder of the three High Court Judges and a retired Army Officer. This incensed the self proclaimed demagogue and one time military leader now pretending to be a democrat, Flt Lt Jeremiah John Rawlings to go into a rage, promising to release a bombshell on the heinous crime and also ask a few questions.

May be somebody should tell Mr. Rawlings that Ghanaians have several questions for him to answer and while at it, remind him, that in Ghana’s history, he is the luckiest Ghanaian to be alive and breathing freely today. He has set the record of being the only person in history of having led three military coups and succeeding twice .

Why has Mr Rawlings kept quiet since 30th June 1982, more than 36 years ago, if he had a bombshell and anything worth saying on the abduction and murders? And why is he throwing tantrums today when a dedicated patriotic team has sort to help Ghanaians with answers to a blip in our history? Who held his tongue all this while?

It is very apparent that Mr. Rawlings believes in the mediocrity of the politics of dubious and empty equalization that is going on currently in Ghana. That because Yaw Manu did this in the past, however wrong, insincere and unscrupulous it is, it’s ok for Yaa Mansa to do the same. For instance he asks questions like why did the program makers not ask President Kuffour why the 39 women who were murdered while he Rawlings was still president not included in the documentary or why nobody has answered why and who killed the Ya-Na Yakubu Andani? I will like to press home to Mr. Rawlings that while those are legitimate questions to be asked by Ghanaians, it does not prevent him or any other person with interest in those issues to also conduct an investigation into them and to do their own documentary on the subject. It does also not reduce or diminish the interest of those who for their own agenda, want to concentrate on the abduction and murder of the three High Court Judges and the retired army officer.

I accept that then in opposition, candidate Kuffour stated that when the NPP comes to power, the killing of the women and the national panic that it generated would stop and indeed, it did stop after the NPP came to power in 2000. This raises 4 interesting questions that I can’t continue this article without asking them. So I do here now. 1. Was the NPP responsible for the killing of the women to cause fear and panic and dissatisfaction for the then NDC administration in order to loose votes? Because the killings stopped with an NPP victory. 2. Did the NPP know who was responsible for the killings but lacked authority to arrest them or stop them from the killings as it was only in opposition at the time? Because the killings stopped with an NPP victory. 3. Was the NDC responsible for the killings to use as voodoo to perpetuate its stay in power and used state power to cover up the murders and protect the killers but could not do so after it lost power in 2000? Because the killings stopped when the NDC lost power in 2000 and 4. Was the NDC in Government so incompetent that it could not marshal state resources to deal with the serial murders but that the NPP successfully dealt with it after coming to Office? Because the killings stopped after the NDC lost power in 2000.

Let me also take this opportunity to tell Mr. Rawlings that at the time of these serial murders, he was the president of the Republic of Ghana and in accordance with our constitution, he was the number one law enforcement officer. So his failure as the chief executive officer of Ghana at the time to ably and adequately stop the killings and find the culprits using all available state resources, firmly and rightly place the blame and responsibility of the killing of the 39 women exactly at his door and therefore he is solely and several responsible both for the murders and the inability to catch the killers till date.

As for the Ya-Na, though I am appalled at his killing and refuse to believe that anybody needed to die senselessly in Dagbon that day, I will submit that for the sake of seeking lasting peace in Dagbon, that we accept that he died in battle. And that during that battle persons from all sides died. It does not help however that all the leaders of state security at that time from National Security to Ministry of Interior were held by members of the opposing Abudu gate. This is an indictment on the thinking abilities and capacity of President Kuffour who new the tension that existed in the Dagbon area. Let me quickly add that Jerry Rawlings cannot completely be absorbed of the murder of the Ya-Na because history has shown that he, Rawlings knew of the plot to assassinate the overlord of Dagbon and personally travelled up north in the week preceding his death to warn him. What he Rawlings failed to do was to bring his concerns and suspicion to the right state authorities or speak to the them sitting president instead of behaving like a super egoistic president on retirement but in control of state power. I will contend that his failure to respect his successor and inform him of his concerns when he got to know of the plot to assasinate the Ya-Na contributed immensely to the inability of the security agencies from preventing his killing. Shedding crocodile tears after the event won’t help in bringing lasting peace to the area. My advise to him is to stop inflaming passions and the incitement of the Andanis and to use whatever is left of his credibility to assist the Asantehene and the eminent persons appointed to deal with the matter in order to bring lasting peace to Dagbon area to aid development and security for the people who still have to live there and go about their normal duties.

Now since Rawlings enjoys dropping bombshells, let him throw some more on the following. 1. Its is common knowledge and a matter of public record, that a gentleman , whose name I cannot readily recall, was dating his(Rawlings’s) first daughter. Along the line, the relationship went cold and the young gentleman no longer found the nectar and juices provided by Jerry’s daughter any longer interesting and enjoyable and so decided to end the relationship just like any young man would if you suspected that your girlfriend did no longer tickle your fancy or suspected as he did in those days, that there was a possibility that his girlfriend was probably dating another person in addition to him. Now what happened to this young man is now of historical national importance and interest. He was lured to the Osu Castle, the seat of Government and then detained upon arrival. While he was illegally and unconstitutionally detained at the castle, somebody in authority in the Castle ordered the soldiers on duty to give him what is known in military jargon as “identification haircut” with broken bottles, usually associated with criminals who are unlucky to be apprehended by the military. This happened at the seat of Government. Can Mr Rawlings drop a bombshell and answer this question? 1. Who gave the order to detain his daughter’s ex-boyfriend? Because ordinary soldiers in the Castle could not have done that on their own. 2. On what basis was the order given? 3. What was the crime of the young man? 4. Who ordered the identification hair cut with broken bottles? 5. What legal framework, (constitution or statute) gave the person the authority to order such actions?

2. Before I run out of space as I am using my phone to ask these many questions, let Mr Rawlings drop another bombshell while at it. The Special Investigation Board( SIB) that was charged to investigate the abduction and murder of the three High Court Judges and retired army officer did suggest that the keys to the three white Fiat Compagnola vehicles that were used during curfew hours ( controlled only the the PNDC of which he was chairman) to commit the murders were later, allegedly found on the dining table in the house of Mr. Rawlings’s wife, Jazabel Kunadu Agyeman Rawlings. Hmmmm! How did the keys get there, if it is true? Either the car keys were put on the dining table by his wife who served him lunch or dinner on that table or he Rawlings left it there by mistake when he went there to eat his lunch or dinner. Either way, somebody has to drop a bombshell as to how the keys got there. Because having read the seven wonders of the world, I have not yet come across any car keys that can walk by itself to a dining table. This apparent fact may also indicate a very close relationship between those who committed the gruesome murder and the occupants of the said Ridge plush residence of the then first family. Do Ghanaians not deserve a bombshell on that? Personally and from my own sources, I do not believe that the then head of National Security was the master mind behind the plot and knew about it in advance. But as head of National Security and the only calmly right thinking person at the time, was informed after the fact and compelled in his role to develop a cover-up story, which he did rather badly given the difficult and strange circumstances at the time.

3. Mr. Rawlings has forgotten that a Bullion Van carrying gold from Obuasi was hijacked and contents stolen while the driver and one security officer were allegedly killed by the said hijackers one of who was Jack Bebbley, a known close friend, confidant and buddy of the then Chairman of the PNDC ( I wonder who that was?) and that Jack is supposed to have disclosed during interrogation that he believed it was a national assignment as he received his orders to carry out the operation from the Castle. Hmmmm! Here again, if it is true, who gave the order? Admittedly, Jack and his known military accomplices were eventually found guilty of the robbery and given various terms of imprisonment but were all miraculously released earlier than their sentence stipulated. Ghanaians deserve a bombshell on this too.

Finally, let me say to Mr. Rawlings that the reason why we may never get to the bottom of these matters and why the truth may never be told leading to his accusation of rehashing and re-cooking history is the fact that he and his cabal as well as those who can rightfully claim that they were working for him and the mistake of a government known as the PNDC, are unfortunately indemnified by the transitional provisions of the 1992 constitution that he as a preacher of probity and public accountability, appended his signature to. Let him know that the transitional provisions which gives him unbridled protection in Ghana today is at variance and inconsistent with the very constitution that he signed. It inadvertently places him and his cohorts above the laws of Ghana and makes a mockery of the principle of the universally held view of equality before the law. This provisions places some people above the law and makes it legally and humanly impossible to rightly investigate historical crimes against the state and humanity committed by him (if any) and any person working for him. It ties our hands. There are several people now still alive with information on some of the atrocities committed under his regime like the abduction and disappearance of my friend, patron and mentor, Mr B. B Bismark, also known as Nana Ntsifo Ababio, the Adontehene of Akwapim. Whose disappearance put a halt to the education of his children as there was no one to pay their school fees and their upkeep, while Rawlings enjoyed state protection and friends contribution to educate all his children in expensive, private and exclusive foreign schools abroad, and able to allow his children to become pilots and business executives. The reason is that those with information don’t see the point in providing such sensitive information when it can’t be put to good use.

So today as I and other many Ghanaians wait for the promised bombshell of Mr Rawlings on the abduction and murder of the three High Court Judges and retired army officer, we would cherish a bold and galant lead by President Rawlings, the proponent, Prophet and preacher of probity and public accountability and the only true saint in Ghana and man without sin, the almighty corruption-less former military leader, ( even though he accepts taking a two million dollar bribe from former Nigerian military dictator, Sonni Abacher or was it 5 Million, ) to call a big press conference and lunch a national movement to lead in calling for the removal of the Transitional Provisions in the 1992 constitution which gives him complete protection, from prosecution and investigations. To enable a bolder future Ghana government to lunch a historical criminal and other investigations in all these matters. For there can be no reconciliation without justice for its victims.

For this is the only way, we can interrogate his voluntary unwarranted, unsolicitored, uncalled -for stewardship of the country Ghana for so many years.

GHANA DESERVES AND DEMANDS A BOMBSHELL FROM DR. FLT. LT. JEREMIAH JOHN RAWLINGS. FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE FOURTH REPUBLIC OF GHANA AND THREE TIMES HEAD OF STATE.

JOIN THE MOVEMENT TO CALL FOR REMOVAL OF ALL PROVISIONS IN THE CONSTITUTION THAT PREVENTS OUR ABILITY AS A NATION TO TREAT EVERY CITIZEN EQUALLY BEFORE THE LAW.

TRUE DEMOCRACY OR FUDGED DEMOCRASY?? The choice is yours as a Ghanaian citizen and NOT SPECTATOR.

Columnist: K Kakraba Pratt