31st December Revolution: JJ Rawlings fooled us into supporting uprising - Ex-Sgt. narrates

A former member of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC), Sergeant Daniel Alolga Akata Pore, has disclosed his role in the 31st December Revolution, influenced by former President Jerry John Rawlings.

He noted that he was part of the military intelligence group at the time but was persuaded by the late Rawlings to provide information that contributed to the uprising.

Sergeant Akata Pore mentioned that Rawlings had a strong aversion to Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and opposed promoting his achievements.

He also stated that Rawlings deceived some prominent military figures to support his cause, leading to the uprising.

"The same thing Rawlings was. I tell you, I didn't know that he hated Dr. Nkrumah. Rawlings fooled everybody. Look, Rawlings gave me three books on the ABC of socialism. When he met me for the first time, he said, 'I really respect you because you can see forward. You will have to follow Nkrumah.'

"That's why I was interested in helping him out. Assisting him to bring about change was tricky because I was working for military intelligence as well. So, in a way, I betrayed the military, but it was for a greater good in my view, so that's why I did so," he recounted during an interview with JoyNews on the UPfront show.

The ex-sergeant expressed regret for compromising military intelligence to assist Rawlings in his bid for an uprising.

"I regretted it because immediately after we took over, it became clear that Rawlings was not a fan of Nkrumah. We wanted to bring Kotoka's statue to the airport, and Rawlings was furious because Kotoka was a dictator and how he was killed and all that," he added.

The 31st December 1981 revolution ushered in a period of economic and political transformation that culminated in the re-establishment of lasting constitutional rule in 1992.

The revolution also gave birth to the National Democratic Congress which won elections in 1992 and 1996 under the leadership of Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings.

Click here to follow the GhanaWeb General News WhatsApp channel

Ghana’s leading digital news platform, GhanaWeb, in conjunction with the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, is embarking on an aggressive campaign which is geared towards ensuring that parliament passes comprehensive legislation to guide organ harvesting, organ donation, and organ transplantation in the country.

SB/AE