Late former President, Jerry John Rawlings

A video of late former President, Jerry John Rawlings, has resurfaced on the internet where he was heard stating how he was ‘tricked’ to murder a former Head of State, General Akwasi Amankwa Afrifa.

One may recall that Gen Afrifa, in addition to some seven senior military officers, were killed by a firing squad in 1979.

In an interview with Asaase Radio, Rawlings recounted how, before the killings, he visited a colleague general to seek advice on ways to go about persons listed on the shooting list.

He explained that Gen Afrifa’s name was initially not on the list, however, after consulting the military general whose identity was not disclosed, he included Afrifa as a person to be killed. 

“I went to see a respectable general of ours. I held him in very high regard and showed him the list. In fact, I was in a very heavy mood. I couldn’t hold back the tears because I had tried everything to prevent the execution of the commanders. After about two hours, he asked where the rouge was because his name was not on the list. 

“I didn’t know who the person he was talking about, so I turned back to find who the person was, and he said Afrifa. He said Afrifa has advanced a good load of money to organise a campaign against the Acheampong’s Union Government… It was obvious that his name would have to be added. Because we would have to make some serious sacrifices and the more regretful you are, the easier it could be. And here we have a list of innocent good people who would have to die to save hundreds,” he said, made available by Asaase Radio. 

Rawlings noted that he was naïve at the time of the 1979 killings. 

He added that the said military general wanted Afrifa dead because he felt Gen Afrifa could take his position.

“In a way, I was a little naïve at that time. It wasn’t until later that I saw through what he did. What he said could very well be true. However, I think he wanted Afrifa because he felt outstaged by General Afrifa, by the 66th school.

 “Until then, he thought he was the rising star. The point man for Western intelligence organisations… I used to hold him in high esteem,” he added. He added that the said general, who was alive during the time of the interview, made several attempts on his life. 

“He is a survivor. The number of attempts he made on my life and some few things. I hope he will be alive to read it,” he disclosed. 

Meanwhile, watch GhanaWeb’s tour of Fort Victoria and the Cape Coast Lighthouse below:

JHM/AE