How The Culture Of Silence Started in Ghana from 1983 to 1992

In January 1982 the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) with Jerry John Rawlings as the Chairman and a Military Head of state ruled by decrees which were dubbed the PNDC Laws. He ordered the formation of People’s Defence Committees and Workers Defence Committees nationwide, cheating, stealing and workers victimization by powerful and the hither to untouchables at all work places including the Security Agencies namely, the Police, Army, Prisons, Fire Service, Immigration, CEPs etc elected their members at their various units and organizations nation wide. The Judicial Service was inclusive as well as all private companies. The P.D.C’s were also to organize communal labour in all the towns, villages and expose smugglers, thieves traders who sold goods above control prices, drivers who misbehaved and drove carelessly, check fraud and several other nation wrecking activities nation wide. I thank all Ghanaian Traditional Rulers as they all co-operated fully with the P.D.C’s until both the P.D.C’s and W.D.C’s were renamed the Committees for the Defence of the Revolution (C.D.R’s) in September 1984 by Jerry Rawlings in Takoradi. The cadres CLASHED with the Police MTTU men when we decided to arrest and discipline way ward and careless drivers because they felt that we had taken over their jobs.
Several cadres died through gun shot wounds without reward and the country’s administration DID NOT SUPPORT both the short lived June 4 Uprising that formed the AFRC on June 4 1979, the very day Rawlings was to face a FIRING SQUAD. Here was a slender fair coloured 31 year old pilot with his ten fingers removed by force with a pair of pliers staring at death that could end his life within some few hours through the order of an extremely Western backed panel members of a demonic Military Tribunal. This lanky No Nonsense soldier boldly told the corrupt Military Tribunal members that “LEAVE MY MEN ALONE”- I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR EVERYTHING” Hmm! Let me pause Here- the rest is history as some patriotic Junior Military Officers led by the then Capt. (rtd) Boakye Djan, now Major Boakye Djan (rtd) finally freed him and saved his life through DIVINE INTERVENTION.

HAND OVER AND PREMATURE RETIREMENT IN SEPT 1979
When Flt. Lt. J.J. Rawlings was interviewed by the B.B.C, he said he intended to remain in the Armed Forces after handing over power to a civilian government as the results of the 1979 general elections were being counted. I intend to remain in the Armed Forces after handing over power to any political party that won the elections and Dr. Hilla Limann was declared the Winner over the Popular Front Party with the late Victor Owusu of Blessed memory. He was a very disciplined handsome lawyer whose reckless remarks against the Ewes in 1979 have never been forgiven by Voltarians from 1979 to date 2012, when described them as an inward looking people and later apologized by slaughtering two cows, but all to no avail and it haunts the NPP an offshoot of the Popular Front Party up to date. Before I continue why did my good slant speaking friend, Nana Akuffo Addo ask Ewes to stop their ONE WAY VOTING in Ghana?
He must first ask the Asantes to also stop their ONE WAY VOTING in Ghana before advising the Voltarians against that voting pattern. Hmm! As for Ghana politicians, one can never predict their true motives but UNTIL an Ewe man wins Parliamentary elections in the Ashanti Region, the so-called strong hold of the NPP, and an Asantie man also wins Parliamentary election in the Volta Region, also the so-called stronghold of the NDC, this tribal voting pattern will remain in these two Special Regions for donkey years since both regions preach tribal superiority or plain tribalism from father to son. How sad. Come Again – Mr. All die be die” and the “Commander in Chief of the illegal Army” of the NPP whose members want power at All cost do you people think that we shall sit down and allow you to disgrace President Mills with a One Term Presidency this year 2012? As for that it is Double Tofiakwa! And now back to Rawlings, his humility is a known factor and it was his discipline humility that endeared him to most of his own Senior Officers because he is quiete a very sincere person. Burt behind humility and sincerity there was a growing fear in the Western Press that he might not keep his promise by handing over to Dr. Limann. Why did they Poke their long noses into the internal Affairs of Ghana in 1979?

BRITAIN REMOTE CONTROLED LIMANN
Former President Limann invited Rawlings to the Castle one afternoon after he handed over power to him to discuss whether Rawlings will accept being made a member of the Council of State, but at the time Limann was beaming with smiles towards Rawlings, Radio Ghana announced that the former Chairman of the AFRC Flt. Lt. J.J. Rawlings was retired including the then Army commander Brigadier Arnold Quainoo and four others on Nov. 27th 1980 exactly 65days after the hand over – on the orders of Britain through Limann.

ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE ON RAWLINGS AND ALL JUNIOR ARMY OFFICERS OF THE ERSTWHILE AFRC MILITARY JUNTA

One Dr. Nabilla, a former Presidential Advisor released the dreaded Military Intelligence on the orders of Dr. Limann on all former Junior military officers who supported the June 4 Uprising in1979 as well as all civilians with orders to arrest, detain or even torture them to death in cells, as for the former soldiers, they were ordered to be shot on sight. Therefore letters were dispatched to all public Boards and Corporations Managers nationwide including private companies like the Mines to identify and dismiss all KNOWN SUPPORTERS of the June 4 Uprising straight away. Behind the scenes, the Military Intelligence, faced with the scare of a poised up Junior Officers group and a radicalized ranks had to quickly take measures to stabilize the situation, and Limann will listen to ANY ADVICE from the Military Intelligence. At the former AGC Company, I was among 103 miners dismissed on the orders of Dr. Limann for supporting the June 4 Uprising in 1979- the rest is history, I shall return on this important topic in a later date, so stay tuned.

THE 31ST DECEMBER REVOLUTION
We all shouted “Revolution or Death” and further added the slogan “Power to The People form 1982 – 1983 which we dubbed the “Popular Nonsense Era” Little did we know that the term “Revolution or Death” was to start with the death of we (the cadres first) just as the “All-die-be die” slogan by Nana Akufo Addo will surely start with NPP members first in the 2012 general elections before ANY innocent Ghanaian will follow suit, God forbid. Let the NPP members rather kill their own members and die first before Prez-Mills retain power genuinely and fairly in 2012 if they (NPP) believe that innocent people must always die to enable them grab political power in this country during general election in Ghana since 1951 to date 2012

The Culture of Silence
Ghanaians has been SLEEPING for far too long, closing their eyes a multiple of EVIL perpetuated against the State by the people at the HELM OF AFFAIRS. Ghanaians must be BOLD enough to POINT OUT the mistakes of their leaders WHEN THEY WERE STILL AT POST and NOT THE UNPARDONABLE MISTAKE of being able to say what went wrong, when the SINNER was out of the scene. J.J. Rawlings, see” Daily Graphic June 22nd and 23rd June 1979 when he was the then Chairman of the AFRC Military Junta. As a June 4 cadre and member of the Ashanti Regional Branch of the June 4 Movement, I am dedicating this article to the memory of the late Comrade Kwame Adjimah, a leading member of the June Four Movement who had been campaigning against Ghana’s extremely harsh Economic Recovery Programme which was then been implemented on the marching orders of the IMF and World Bank which the PNDC strongly opposed. In 1982 Kwame Adjimah took inspiration from the above speech by Rawlings on June 4 in 1979, because the PNDC was in power and chaired again by the same man, so Kwame Adjimah became BOLD enough to point out the mistakes of Rawlings to him not knowing that he was digging his own grave through what I will describe as an ILLEGAL FIRING SQUAD, but it was seen as a normal death under the PNDC regime between 1982 – 1983 the Popular Nonsense Era.
Therefore on June 19th 1983, my dear Comrade Kwame Adjimah was arrested in the morning in the Volta Regional Capital, Ho and driven to Accra and locked up in the Border Guards Guardroom on the Independence Avenue. Unfortunately, for Kwame Adjimah, that was the very day that Corporal Halidu Gyiwah attempted to over throw the PNDC govt. by jamming the Broadcasting House while bragging to Ghanaians that Rawlings and his PNDC govt. was no more and went on air to describe Capt. Kojo Tsikata as that “murderer” I was in Accra and decided to visit Kwame Adjimah together with my two soldier friends but we weren’t allowed. I would have been shot dead and treated as a dissident if those two soldiers did not accompany me there. At 5pm on the same day, a former member of the PNDC whose name I will not mention for security reasons came to the guardroom and ordered that all the detainees must be brought out of the cells for FRESH AIR. As Comrade Kwame Adjimah walked out of their cell the soldier with a military rank of W/ O class one opened fire on them and they all lay dead in cold blood. Then he turned round to ask for the I.D cards of the two soldiers who accompanied me there and the soldiers identified themselves as members of the Armed Forces W.D.C who were accompanying this writer also a W.D.C member from the A.G.C in Obuasi. Not satisfied, he enquired from A.G.C headquarters in Accra about my identity and it was confirmed and that saved my life. Now, how do you compare what Rawlings stated in June 1979 and what a member of his PNDC government did in 1983? So all the outspoken leading members of the June 4 Movement fled the country into exile by FORCE leaving the Junior members including this writer in Ghana, and ALL MOUTHS IN GHANA WERE SEALED BY FORCE. Don’t shut up and see, a GUN will devour your meat because we were in a revolutionary era. As cadres, we mustered courage and went to the PNDC Headquarters at the Gondar Barracks to meet J.J. Rawlings himself but he DENIED KNOWLEDGE of that soldiers’ cold blooded killing of the June 4 cadre. Yes he spoke the truth, he was actually innocent. He reminded us that every true revolution eats its own eggs – case closed. Infact, on that day, men became Women as we saw our fellow cadres mowed down in cold blood, full stop. The rest is history, but this is an eye witness account. From that day in 1983 I always remember those cadres who died in the course of the Revolution in everything I do. Today if some Party Executives and government appointees does not recognize and respect cadres, I only pity them. Therefore, the man, called Former President J.J. Rawlings who is the founder of the NDC stated politics as the WORST DICTATOR Africa has ever seen and ended his 19 year old rule in Ghana as the BEST DEMOCRAT Africa has ever seen in the last ten decades. Come on, Who Born Dog?
I always write to provoke DEBATE since I took up my pen in 1984 but I don’t write to please any person or group of persons. Therefore if I write and some people become angry with me, I don’t care a fig and they can burn the sea if they so wish-but I am educating Ghana Youth who were not born but refuse to read the news papers because they are costly-they rather prefer going to Inter-Net Cafes to browse there. This is how the PNDC government started the “Culture of Silence in Ghana and the situation at that time demanded it. Do you know what? J.J. Rawlings never killed even a FLY with a GUN during the June 4 and the 31st December revolutions in 1979 1981, but he accepted all the extra judicial killings that occurred in those two regimes and duely apologized to Ghanaians at Ex-Prez. Kufour’s Nail Rawlings Commission in 2003 but they (NPP) government failed to NAIL him, and that makes. Jerry Rawlings the greatest democrat in Africa today and forever until his death. You keep your fingers crossed, I shall return on this very tragic topic when the need arise. I am done. Jaanbie Iwaii”, Aluta Continua!


…………………………
CLEMENT SANGAPAREE
MUNICIPAL ORGANISER
UNITED CADRES FRONT
C/o Box 32, Obuasi

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