I Regret Rescuing Rawlings From Prison - Capt. Baah-Achamfour

A member of the mutinous Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) junta that once ruled this country, Captain Kwabena Baah-Achamfour (rtd) says he deeply regrets taking part in the action that led to the “rescue of Rawlings from prison, made him chairman of the AFRC and eventually "propelled him to fame and glory”.

According to him, Mr. Rawlings is a traitor for betraying the ideals and principles of June 4 by overthrowing a constitutionally elected government.


“I am so disappointed in (Rawlings) and I sincerely regret ever taking part in an action which rescued him and made him chairman of the AFRC and propelled him to fame and glory. I honestly regret it because so far as I am concerned, the risk and the sacrifices some of us have made have almost come to nought as the consequences of the betrayal of the ideals and principles of June 4 by Rawlings. He is a traitor; he has betrayed the ideals and principles of June 4 by overthrowing constitutionalism in Ghana,” he stated.


Captain Baah-Achamfour, who was speaking in an interview with Radio Gold’s Alhassan Suhini, said June 4 should be a day of sober reflection by Ghanaians on the unsavory events that precipitated the coup and the need to avoid such incidents from re-occurring.

“I am sure nobody who lived through June 4 and the traumatic experiences of the AFRC will want a recurrence of the era. For me, June 4 should serve as a perpetual reminder to us and our leaders, the present and the future of what we did wrong to bring about June 4 and what we must do so it never recurs,” he noted.


He, however, stated that June 4 is still worth commemorating notwithstanding the reservations and misgivings some people may have about the day, stressing that it is part of the national psyche and if properly managed, it could be carved into a good event for the common good of the country.


He appealed to civil society and opinion leaders to have a rethink about the celebration of the day in the context of contemporary political revolution and begin the process of taking “back June 4 from Jerry Rawlings”.