JJ Rawlings (1947-2020) Part 2

Opinions on Saturday, November 21, 2020

Columnist: Cameron duodu

2020-11-21

A short time later, Radio Ghana went on the air around 5.30 in the morning. On June 4, 1979, when a breathless voice, that of “Jerry Rawlings”, took the microphone and said, “The boys just got me out of jail ……. I want all the junior officers and the other ranks come together. Nicholson Stadium will be our place. “

Rawlings then mentioned the names of some specific officers and other ranks whom he said he wanted to be at the meeting.

It was incredible! About twenty-four hours earlier, Rawlings had been court-martialed, responding to charges related to the “incident” of May 15, 1979, which some had classified as an attempted coup but which, in reality, did not. it was more that Rawlings seized some armored vehicles in collusion with some other ranks of the Ghana Army Armored Reconnaissance Squadron.

Rawlings hadn’t planned much for the future, like lining up the soldiers from the infantry battalions to support him; it had not even managed to mobilize its own squad of fighter jets. His hope had been that the soldiers would spontaneously join his side if they found out that actions were being taken to change the Government of the Supreme Military Council (2).

But he had misinterpreted the political situation. The SMC (2) headed by General Frederick Akuffo had begun planning the installation of a duly democratic government in Ghana. It had allowed freedom of the press to function, to the extent that the state-owned Daily Graphic was able to print, almost word for word, everything that Rawlings had said at his trial.

His argument, as he told the court martial, was that the top brass in the Ghana Armed Forces had ruled the country so badly that they had disgraced the entire Armed Forces. The soldiers were now afraid to identify themselves as soldiers to the public, because they were openly insulted when they did so. Almost all essential commodities were in short supply in the country. But there was a widespread belief that senior officials appointed to head ministries and state institutions not only made a lot of money for themselves, but favored their friends, especially female friends, in granting import licenses.

These “friends” and front men were able to bring in goods from abroad, which they sold at hugely inflated prices, in a system called kalabule or gyinabu. The system had turned people who did not possess any skills or did nothing important to society (but who had cultivated good connections with government officials) into wealthy individuals overnight. Meanwhile, prices rose so much in the markets that soldiers and workers

they were suffering a terrible day of hunger. Something had to be done to redeem the honor and dignity of the members of the Armed Forces.

Rawlings then cleverly told the court martial to release all other ranks whom he had pestered to support his rebellion. They had acted under his orders, he emphasized. If there was to be any punishment, it should be placed on his head and only on him.

The publication, on the front page of the Daily Graphic, of these sentiments expressed at the court martial by Rawlings made him an overnight hero, especially among the lower ranks of the military. Here was a man who accepted responsibility for his actions and wanted to be punished for them. He was a great man of honor for absolving the young men who had been under his influence.

Apparently, there had been a movement of junior officers in the armed forces who had been secretly discussing the situation in the country for a period of years. Their main conclusion, apparently, was that senior officers had “disgraced” the armed forces by using the positions they had captured, by overthrowing the civilian government of Dr. Kofi Busia in January 1972. Therefore, senior officers should be “purged”. Not much else had been agreed upon between them, such as the type of economic system that should replace the kalabule phenomenon.

As I was abroad at the time of Rawlings’ court martial, I can’t say much about it, but I think Rawlings was occasionally hailed by members of the public who had managed to enter the courtroom where the trial was taking place. . Most of the members of the public were, in fact, ordinary soldiers in mufti, as I understand it.

There is little doubt that the eloquence displayed by Rawlings at the trial succeeded in creating a heroic figure of him in the eyes of many soldiers. Meetings began to be held on what should be done to prevent his execution for inciting rebellion. As a result of these meetings, a band of soldiers had decided to release him from his place of imprisonment, in the early morning of June 4, 1979.

Upon releasing Rawlings, the soldiers took him to Broadcasting House, where they managed to put him before a live microphone to make the stupendous announcement that he had been released by other ranks of the military.

After the announcement of a breathless Rawlings, continuous military music played on the radio. It was reminiscent of February 24, 1966 [ when Kwame Nkrumah was overthrown by the soldiers who formed National Liberation Council (NLC) headed by General Joseph Ankrah]; April 17, 1967 [Lieutenant Samuel Arthur attempts to overthrow the NLC fails and is executed]; January 13, 1972 [Colonel (as he then was) I K Acheampong overthrows the Progress Party Government and forms the Supreme Military Government]; and July 5, 1978 [General F W Akuffo overthrows General Acheampong SMC and replaces it with SMC2].