Former President Jerry John Rawlings has said in Wa that the death of Captain Maxwell Mahama has sent a shocking wave throughout the country.

He expressed the hope that his death would serve as a wake call for all Ghanaians, the government and the law courts to act responsibly towards the task ahead of them.

President Rawlings made the statement during a courtesy call on Naa Seidu Fuseini Pelpuo, the overlord of the Waala Traditional Area at his palace as part of preparation towards the commemoration of the 38th anniversary celebration of the June 4 Uprising in Wa.

“The death of Captain Mahama is uncivilised and cruel, all must repent and put a stop to the practice,” he said.

President Rawlings reminded government to look into all the other cases which preceded Captain Mahama’s death, saying it did not start today and government has to tackle the previous cases with urgency.

“If we had tackled the previous cases with the urgency they required, things would not have been what they are today. I am confident the government would deliver what is expected of her”, he said.

President Rawlings commended the Ghana Army, especially the Unit that the late Captain Mahama belongs, for exercising a deeper sense of restraint. On the June 4 uprising, President Rawlings said it was like a second independence for Ghana to liberate itself from ignorance and some oppressive tendencies of the past.

He said the Wa-Naa, Naa Seidu Fuseini Pelpuo and Guli – Naa, Naa Seidu Braimah used to be cadets by then and that it did not surprise him that both of them had now occupied importance positions in the society as leaders ruling over their people.

On the NDC defeat, President Rawlings said if the leadership of the NDC had listened, the party would not have ended up in the disgraceful defeat that took place in the last election.

He said the time has come for them to begin to think seriously about what needed to be done to repair the damage.