I was against executions, But

...Boakye Djan & Co. wanted 'Blood to flow'!

Mr Francis Kojo-Smith, a former Legal Adviser to the erstwhile Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), has intimated that he was strongly against the executions of the army officers who were executed by firing squad under the first administration of Ex-Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings, reports The Crusading Guide.

Besides his role as a legal adviser to the AFRC, he said that he tried to ameliorate the excesses of the regime. Frantic efforts, he maintained, were made by him to stop the executions but the other members of the Council, including Major Boakye Djan (rtd) - now domiciled in London - were insistent on letting the blood flow.

Mr Francis Kojo-smith, a legal practitioner cum journalist, disclosed these in an exclusive interview with the paper when he paid a courtesy call on the paper last week Monday.

He said he was not happy that a person like General A.A. Afrifa - who was the Chairman of the UNC Party led by the late Paa Willie and not a member of Acheampong's/Akuffo's SMC governments - was captured, tied to the stakes and shot.

According to the ex-AFRC Associate, a list of 16 people, including civilians, had been slated for executions but he pleaded with Chairman Rawlings not to kill them.

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And Boakye Djan reacts

Major (rtd) Kwadjo Boakye Djan says he finds nothing new nor even surprising about the interview granted to The Crusading Guide by Mr Kojo smith, one of the numerous close functionaries of the June 4 Uprising in 1979.

"This is not the first time that I have been made a target of this particular type of smear allegations and the unprofessional manner he chose to make them. Knowing his caliber as a professional lawyer who is trained to handle contested evidence I expected something better than that from him", Boakye Djan was quoted to have said.

"That apart, it is one more example of the sorry spectacle of key AFRC persons suddenly emerging from their long hideouts, in some cases over twenty years, to make fantastic claims of what they did or did not do and what happened or did not happen during their association with the AFRC.

On numerous occasions in the past, I have had to resist the temptation of joining in that unwholesome practice particularly from very senior professionals we had to work with.

This time round also, I find no compelling reason to break my restraint from joining in the practice," he'd added.