Precisely 39 years ago some former military Heads of State, General Fred William Kwasi Akuffo, General Ignatius Kutu Acheampong and Lieutenant - General Akwasi Amankwa Afrifa, were executed by firing squad at the Teshie Shooting Range in Accra.
Other officers who were executed included Major General E.K. Utuka, former Border Guards Commander; Rear Admiral Joy Amedume, former Navy Commander; Air Vice- Marshal George Yaw Boakye, former Air Force Commander; Major General Ebenezer Abosey Kotei, former Chief of Defense Staff, all members of the erstwhile Supreme Military Council, and Colonel Roger Felli, former Commissioner for Foreign Affairs.
All these former Heads of States and military officers were tried and found guilty under the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council Special Court Decree and were condemned to death by firing squad.
Their offences included the acquisition or obtaining of loan, property, material, promise, favour or advantage whatsoever by abuses or exploits by virtue of their official position in the public service.
Illegal or dishonest acquisition of property and intentional or reckless misapplication or cause or damage to public property.
Essentially these men punished by death from acts which at the time were considered to be grievous offences and inimical to the development of the country. It was during a revolution which obviously sought to correct the ‘ills’ committed by the members of the then deposed government.
It can easily be said that at the time there was no tolerance for abuse of public office otherwise merely procuring a loan, promise, material, property, favour or advantage whatsoever by a person holding public office should not be a problem.
But clearly, the fact that a public officer could not discharge the burden of proving that such loan, favour or advantage whatsoever was not procured by virtue of their official position was sufficient for such officer to convicted and sentenced to death by firing squad.
Of course, during the period when these executions were taking place, as usual Ghanaians at their best were shouting ‘let the blood flow’ as a show of support to the killings of fellow Ghanaians who were considered to be exploiting the State.
Today, the irony is that the very acts which led to these former Heads of States and Military Generals being charged, sentenced and executed are done in larger scale and proportions and at a much greater loss to the State and yet we look on either sheepishly or are pretentious of their non-occurrence. Today we hail and praise public officials who gleefully take advantage of their positions to scoop money from the State, engage in all kinds of corrupt acts for their selfish gains and as was put by one learned judge ‘create, loot and share’.
My simple question is if for nothing at all, don’t we value the blood of those who were killed 39 years ago for merely obtaining loans? Not that they took the money without the intent of paying back! They were loans!
But I can understand. We have conveniently described the 1979 executions as part of the excesses of the revolution.
The dark part of our history where emotions took the better part of our reasoning and therefore led to some of these painful executions. We pretend to have learnt lessons from those excesses but we have clearly refused to uphold the very objective of protecting the resources of the Country, for which reason those executions occurred.
Probity and accountability which was the favourite phrase back then, today remain in words. Public officials openly without shame loot state coffers at the expense of basic infrastructural needs of the people of Ghana. It is as if Ghanaians have become more accommodating and tolerant of the abuse of public office.
We listen to flimsy justification of side-stepping public procurement procedures and watch on as politicians enrich themselves with states funds whiles majority of the citizenry wallow in abject poverty.
For how long are we going to allow this? When will we be honest with ourselves and really live the values of this country?
Me, Opana, my response is if for nothing at all, let us as a people respect the blood of the Generals that were shed 39 years ago and use their memory as a reflection of our performance as a people in the management of our country and its resources. Let’s be serious and truthful.
May God forgive our trespasses and may he continue to comfort those who lost their loved ones.
May the souls of the Generals continue to find rest in the Lord.