Boyfriend's Haircut with Broken Bottle: Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings tells her side of the story

The Member of Parliament for Korle Klottey, Dr. Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, has addressed one of the famous allegations against her father, the late former President Jerry John Rawlings, which involved a supposed boyfriend of hers whose head was shaved with a broken bottle by soldiers, leaving him bald.

The supposed boyfriend, Selassie O’Sullivan-Djentuh, in an account to the British Home Office when seeking asylum in the United Kingdom, alleged that he was brutalized by soldiers in 2000 after breaking off his relations with a young Dr. Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings.

“I was driven to the Castle, the seat of government. I was dragged out of the van and beaten again. I was shaved with an old rusty blade and later with a broken bottle. I was told that the President had ordered my hair to be brought to him. They said the President had also ordered them to kill me and dump my body in the sea. I know that my hair was collected. I do not know whether it was actually taken to the President.

“I was questioned about my relationship with Zanetor and how many times I slept with her. I was beaten up several times throughout my detention. I was questioned about my knowledge of the Rawlings' estate (their properties and buildings), and I told them I knew nothing. The guards insisted Zanetor had told me certain secrets, and they wanted to know how much I knew. W.O. Budu alleged since my mother had gone on air about my abduction, they could not do what they had planned, but they could chase me to any country I run to and finish me off,” part of Selassie’s five-page statement at the British Home Office reads.

Speaking on the matter for the first time in an interview with Accra-based GHOne TV on June 27, 2024, the Korle Klottey legislator categorically stated that the incident had nothing to do with her father.

She narrated how the allegations took a toll on her because she was really young, and there was no opportunity for the truth to be told to Ghanaians.

She indicated that at the time the incident happened, she had broken off her relationship with Selassie, adding that the incident was about a land dispute.

“My dad had nothing to do with that. The story that I had heard regarding how that all happened was that there was some land issue, and there was some military person involved. At the time, we were not even friends. This was long after I'd gone my way, and he had gone his way. So, this was a bit strange, actually, but politics again, you know, I think it was just a perfect story for the time.

“That bothered me a lot because, at the time, I felt quite unfairly treated because the fact is, the story wasn't true, and no room was being made for the true version of the story to be told because nobody really wanted to hear it at the time. And, I mean, I was young at the time, you know, doing my little 'chrife' thing on the side. And this was a bit devastating, actually, for me.”

Dr. Agyeman-Rawlings added that the allegation had a psychological effect on her and has helped shape the way she does politics.

“That is one of the things that has made me very particular about how I go about my politics. And it's one of those experiences that really informed my behavior as a public figure because I feel that in the path to where it is you want to get to, you can be decent. You can choose to disagree with people, you can choose to not be on the same page, but to go down the path of lies and denigrating people, that's something I'm totally against.”

Watch her remarks in the video below:

Dr. Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings debunks a relationship rumour that circulated in her youth...#StarrChat @starr1035fm #StarrChat #GHOneTV pic.twitter.com/aZiWflwItn

— GHOne TV (@ghonetv) June 28, 2024

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