A former Chief of the Defence Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces, Major General (rtd) Edwin Kwamina Sam, has claimed that the late former President Jerry John Rawlings would not have joined the army if not for the intervention of the Air Force Commander at the time.
According to him, Rawlings failed his examinations and should have been disqualified from becoming a soldier had proper recruitment procedures been followed.
He explained that the then-Air Force Commander made the decision to retain Rawlings because he was a good pilot, but the army leadership later faced consequences for this decision.
“In fact, he always looked up to me. It was the Air Force Commander’s personal decision, despite the fact that he wasn’t passing his exams, that he was a good pilot and should be kept,” he said.
“If the rules had been applied, Rawlings wouldn’t have been in the service. They all thought he was a nice chap; they could handle him, to their peril,” he added.
Major General (rtd) Sam also asserted that some top military officers were unnecessarily and unjustifiably killed when Rawlings took over the country.
“When they finished, what was it? Amedume’s crime was that he had taken an Armed Forces loan to buy a house. And I took an Armed Forces loan to buy this house, so I would have been guilty too.
“…when they looked at Yaw Boakye’s account, he had 4,000 cedis. So why should Yaw Boakye be killed for 4,000 cedis?” he asked.
It is instructive to note that the late Rawlings denied any involvement in the killing of the soldiers.
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