Okatakyie Akwasi Amankwah Afrifa

Liberation from Dictatorship

HEROES OF DEMOCRACY AND PLURALISM


When all the avenues of protest and legitimate opposition had been removed and denied, there was no choice left to any group of people to belong to any other political party, there was the need to intervene. When all political association and opposition were illegal and Ghanaians could only belong to ONE and only ONE party, the ruling party, there was the need to intervene and thank God some were brave enough to take up the challenge. That today Ghana can boast of pluralism in our body politic is testimony to the accomplished objective of our Liberators. The brave men and women stood to be counted and refused to be part of the totalitarian system of governance which our own countrymen, working in consort with the communist allies had foisted on the country.


When people failed to realize that it was a privilege to lead and considered it their birth right, and removed all avenues for opposition, there was every justification to intervene constitutionally. For given any constitution, it is necessary that the provisions that are enshrined in it are based on tenets that are acceptable to all parties. A constitution is a sacrosanct document and is a covenant between the ruling and the opposition parties. Once agreed, any variation in the covenant if not done with tacit approval and cooperation of all parties, renders the document redundant and subject to overthrow. That is why today with all their differences all parties including NPP and NDC can work alongside each other, because as the current Constitution stands it has the tacit approval of all parties.

DEATH OF ONE PARTY

Today the political landscape is occupied by NPP, NDC, DPP, PNC and many more. The parties enjoy openly the freedom and democracy restored and they take all of it for granted. Hardly do we stop to think whether the rush to launch new parties nearly every few months would not have been possible if the one party state had continued. Never again will Ghanaians allow any group of people to enshrine monism into our Constitution. The ONE PARTY STATE IS GONE FOREVER and that is a measure of the success, the awareness and the legacy that 24th February coup gave us. It restored into the Ghanaian body politic pluralism, so much so that today, Ghanaians will never allow anybody or group of people to institutionalized individuals as President for Life no matter their individual contributions to our independence struggle; a struggle which was started by the toil and sweat of peasant farmers, policemen, chiefs and ordinary people.

ONE PARTY DISGUISHED AS UNIGOV

Brave men and women were needed once more to be BOLD TO DEFEND THE COURSE OF FREEDOM, to organize, to revolt and to reject the mother-of-all ONE PARTY STATE - UNIGOV. Interestingly at the risk of lives and in the face of military might, some Ghanaians led not surprisingly by Okatatyie Akwasi Amankwa Afrifa, Nana Akufo Addo and others; PMFJ revolted, which successfully culminated in rejection of UNIGOV.

ALL IS WELL THAT ENDS WELL

Today you and I can enjoy the pluralism, the true democracy and the freedom we so much cherish. We look back today and forget how we could so easily have travelled the Zimbabwe road. Today, the people who had fervently worked to impose the ONE PARTY STATE are struggling to contain themselves in one party, and have formed a plethora of socialist parties i.e. NDC, CPP, PNC and many more. How ironic?

Akwasi Awua Ababio June 25, 2009

We remember them

At the rising of the sun and at its going down,
We remember them.
At the blowing of the wind and in the chill of Winter,
We remember them.
At the opening of buds and in the rebirth of Spring,
We remember them.
At the blueness of the skies and in the warmth of Summer,
We remember them.

At the rustling of leaves and the beauty of Autumn,
We remember them.
At the beginning of the year and when it ends,
We remember them.
As long as we live, they too will live;
for they are now a part of us, as we remember them.
When we are weary and in need of strength,
We remember them.
When we are lost and sick at heart,
We remember them.
When we have joys we yearn to share,
We remember them.
When we have decisions that are difficult to make,
We remember them.
When we have achievements that are based on theirs,
We remember them.
As long as we live, they too shall live,
for they are a part of us, as we remember them.

Author Unknown

Respect (Granddaughter) June 23, 2009

For everything there is a season

For everything there is a season
And a time for every matter under heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
A time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to seek, and a time to lose;
A time to keep, and a time to throw away;
A time to tear, and a time to sew;
A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate,
A time for war, and a time for peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Respect (Granddaughter) June 23, 2009

Success

To laugh often and love much;
to win the respect of intelligent persons
and the affection of children;
to earn the approbation of honest critics
and to endure the betrayal of false friends;
to appreciate beauty;
to find the best in others;
to give of one's self;
to leave the world a little better,
whether by a healthy child,
a garden patch
or a redeemed social condition;
to have played and laughed with enthusiasm
and sung with exultation;
to know that even one life has breathed easier
because you have lived -
this is to have succeeded.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Respect (Granddaughter) June 23, 2009

Live your life that the fear of death
can never enter your heart.
Trouble no one about his religion.
Respect others in their views
and demand that they respect yours.
Love your life, perfect your life,
beautify all things in your life.
Seek to make your life long
and of service to your people.
Prepare a noble death song for the day
when you go over the great divide.
Always give a word or sign of salute when meeting
or passing a friend, or even a stranger, if in a lonely place.
Show respect to all people, but grovel to none.
When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light,
for your life, for your strength.
Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living.
If you see no reason to give thanks,
the fault lies in yourself.
Touch not the poisonous firewater that makes wise ones turn to fools
and robs the spirit of its vision.
When your time comes to die, be not like those
whose hearts are filled with fear of death,
so that when their time comes they weep and pray
for a little more time to live their lives over again
in a different way.
Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home.

The Teaching of Tecumseh

Respect (Granddaughter) June 22, 2009

Remember me when I am gone

Remember me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land;
When you can no more hold me by the hand,
Nor I half turn to go, yet turning to stay
Remember me when no more day by day
You tell me of our future that you planned:
Only remember me; you understand
it will be late to counsel then and pray,
Yet if you should forget me for a while
And afterwards remember, do not grieve:
For if the darkness and corruption leave
A vestige of the thoughts than once I had,
Better by far you should forget and smile
Than you should remember than be sad

Respect (Granddaughter) June 22, 2009

I am here, to clear my good name which has been tarnished in the mud.

You would honestly agree with me that there is something wrong with Ghanaians. For the average Ghanaian is easily swayed like the Plebeians of Ancient Rome. They flatter you when the going is good and turn against you when things are bad.

For the very people who hailed me in 1966 were the same people who clamoured for my blood a decade later. Jesus Christ faced the same persecution for those who shouted “Hosanna, Hosanna” were the same people who shouted, crucify Him! Crucify Him”.

My contention is that I have no regret for the role I played in the event of the February 24, 1966 that brought an end to tyranny and enabled you and I to stand together and shout, “Yen ara yen asase nie [This is our motherland!]

When there were mismanagement and lack of respect for human dignity; when corruption, nepotism and dictatorship reared their ugly heads; when the Preventive Detention Act made life even more intolerable for the ordinary Ghanaian; when our ship of state was at the brink of foundering on the high seas: do take note of the fact that I was saddened and wept like a baby.

Much as I abhorred and detested the intervention of the military in the governance of the country, I agreed with him there and then that the Nkrumah's government should go. I was a soldier and politics was not my game.

I was of the opinion that if the people needed a change of government, it was for the people to decide and not the army. When all else failed, we did what we did. I felt at that time and rightly it was too that I owed a responsibility to the safety of the living, the memory of the dead and to the security of children yet unborn.

Thus, on February 24, 1966, we carried out a Herculean task and removed the last vestiges of the cruel and hated regime. People hailed us here and there. Every where we went, we were acclaimed heroes and given all sorts of titles. It was then I remembered 'The Old Patriot'. I recoiled and said, “Mere noise repels. But give me your yonder skies”.

My beloved friend and inspirer, General Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka left me at the cross roads. I became friendless and lost in thought. Later, when the mantle of leadership fell on me, do take note, Honourable Ancestors that I did not decline the offer to serve my country. I accepted the task with determination to work harder than ever before.

Great Ancestors of the Continent. I beseech thee to take note of the fact that I gave my fellow citizens freedom of speech and all the freedoms enshrined in our constitution and the United Nations Charter on Human Rights. It is on record my fight to have the obnoxious Article 71 repealed and expunged from the statute books.

Since quitting office, I have come out of my shell in response to numerous cries and calls from my compatriots anytime their freedom or liberty was being threatened. This, on many occasions nearly resulted in my death.

In the midst of the June 4, 1979 insurrection by a few disloyal, undisciplined and unpatriotic soldiers, whose action flung the wheel of progress several decades back, I was taken from my humble abode and executed for no crime committed.

The very nature of my execution was Horrible, Cruel, Savage, Barbaric and Inhuman. They tortured me to the very end.

Respect (Granddaughter) June 16, 2009

Why?

Premonitions
Afrifa had written a letter to Acheampong expressing fears about the future execution of soldiers as a deterrent against the staging of military coups in Ghana, due to the prevailing corruption and indiscipline in the military. This was around the period of the UNIGOV campaign and before Acheampong was removed in a palace coup on 5 July, 1978.

"I feel greatly disturbed about the future after the government... In order to discourage the military from staging coups in the future, how about if they line all of us up and shot us one by one? I do not certainly want to be arrested, given some sort of trial and shot. But I would be a stupid General if I sit in the comfort of my farm and await the VENGEANCE that is about to be unleashed on us.... I will pray to take away the fear and confusion weighing on my mind now."


Execution
After the overthrow of the SMC by the AFRC led by Jerry Rawlings, Afrifa was again arrested on his farm at Mampong.[1] Together with other arrested senior military officers, they were tried to varied extents in camera. They were apparently found guilty of corruption, embezzlement, and using their positions to amass wealth.[17] The investigations carried out were apparently incomplete. Evidence gathered by the National Reconciliation Commission in 2004 also suggests that the others executed were not properly tried. Previously, Afrifa had personally had his assets probed by the independent Sowah Assets Commission without any adverse findings.[citation needed] There also appears to have been a delay to the executions as no one including Rawlings appears to have been ready to sign the death warrants. Lieutenant General Joshua Hamidu, a former Chief of the Defence Staff at the time of the AFRC regime, stated that he and Rawlings were the only soldiers at the center of government who opposed the executions of the former heads of state. He is quoted as saying in response to an accusation of calling for Afrifa's execution that:

"That is ridiculous. It is a lie. I had nothing to do with the executions. For three weeks after the 4 June event, questions were constantly raised about executing people. I always stood against it. Surprisingly, the only person who also stood against it was Rawlings. The young boys wanted blood and I used to tell 'you cannot resurrect the man once you've killed him. If you have any case against people, try them. Let everybody hear what they have done wrong against the country.' And that even, they could not do."

On 26 June, 1979, Afrifa was executed by firing squad, together with General Fred Akuffo, also a former Head of state and Major General Robert Kotei, Colonel Roger Felli, Air Vice Marshall George Yaw Boakye and Rear Admiral Joy Amedume. Reports suggest that Afrifa did not die immediately and had to be shot again.

The bodies of the executed officers were buried without ceremony at the Nsawam Prisons Cemetery at Adoagyiri, near Nsawam in the Eastern Region.

Reburial
Following a petition by the widows of the executed generals, President John Kufuor decided that their bodies be handed back to their respective families as part of a national reconciliation drive. On 27 December, 2001, the bodies were returned to their respective families in Accra. Afrifa's remains were finally laid to rest at his hometown of Krobo on 28 January 2002.

Respect (Granddaughter) June 16, 2009