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A former Chief of the Defence Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces, Edwin Kwamina Sam, has claimed that the late former President Jerry John Rawlings would not have been admitted into the military if standard recruitment rules had been strictly enforced.
According to Major General (rtd) Sam, Rawlings failed required examinations during the recruitment process and should have been disqualified, but was retained following the personal intervention of the Air Force Commander at the time.
“He failed the exams but was kept” — Sam
Speaking on the matter, the retired senior officer stated that Rawlings’ continued stay in the military was based on discretion rather than procedure.
“In fact, he always looked up to me. It was the Air Force Commander’s personal decision, despite the fact that he wasn’t passing his exams, that he was a good pilot and should be kept,” he said.
He added that the decision later proved costly for the military leadership.
“If the rules had been applied, Rawlings wouldn’t have been in the service. They all thought he was a nice chap; they could handle him — to their peril,” Sam noted.
Claims of unjustified killings of senior officers
Major General (rtd) Sam further alleged that several senior military officers were unjustifiably killed following Rawlings’ seizure of power, insisting that the reasons cited for their deaths did not warrant such extreme action.
He cited the case of one officer whose alleged offence was taking a military loan to purchase a house.
“Amedume’s crime was that he had taken an Armed Forces loan to buy a house. And I took an Armed Forces loan to buy this house, so I would have been guilty too,” he stated.
Sam also questioned the killing of another officer, Yaw Boakye, whose financial records, according to him, showed minimal funds.
“When they looked at Yaw Boakye’s account, he had 4,000 cedis. So why should Yaw Boakye be killed for 4,000 cedis?” he asked.
Rawlings denied responsibility
It is important to note that the late Jerry John Rawlings consistently denied any personal involvement in the killings of the military officers during his time in power.
