I was a 'volatile, critic chaos, disaster of a guy' but prison changed my life - Kweku Baako

Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako says his detention in prison during the erstwhile Jerry John Rawlings' regime, somehow positively impacted his life.

Mr. Baako disclosed on Peace FM's Wednesday edition of 'Kokrokoo' that during his detention in prison cells, the Military officers subjected him to severe torture.

He alluded to moments when he was whipped him with military belts and forced to use his knees to walk in gravels till it was bloodshot, among other torturous experiences he encountered.

However, he told host Kwami Sefa Kayi that he recently met two of the Military officers who tortured him under the Rawlings' regime and one of them walked up to him, pleading for forgiveness which he did forgive them.

When asked how he could have a heart to forgive his tormentors despite the pains they inflicted on him, he noted that although it was hard to endure the things he suffered at the hands of Mr. Rawlings' soldiers, he believes he developed a big heart because of his trying experience in prison.

According to him, "being in prison changed me; it moderated me. Because if I had not gone to prison and that's a paradox; I was uncontrollable, volatile, disaster of a guy, critic chaos. I wasn't correct at all, violent in a way . . . Yes, prison, you'll realize; look who are you! It's a leveler. My goodness, it's sobering; you can't do anything. They would come for me at 5 am and at 5 pm, I'm back inside . . . Nobody gives a damn about you . . . The regime there is no joke''.

In what seemed like an advice to prison inmates, Kweku Baako further said in prison; ''you have to stop thinking about the outside world, your friends . . . Because the monotony of prison life, everything is the same. Everyday is routine. If you start to think about your friends and your girlfriends, you'll die early or get mad. So, what you do is that you take your mind off the outside world and lock it up in the prison and use that your mind; it's mind power".