I was wrongly demoted after February 24 coup

Ex-WO1 Kofi Akwandoh-Akorful last week told the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) that in the aftermath of the February 24, 1966 coup, he was wrongly singled out and demoted from Lieutenant to Staff Sergeant.

He was also unlawfully detained and forced to retire after again rising through the ranks to WO1.

Akwandoh-Akorful said during the coup in which Dr Kwame Nkrumah was ousted, he was a Platoon Commander of the 4th Battalion at Michel Camp. He said he was invited to open the safe of one General Bawa who was killed during the coup.

"I was a safe combination expect and General Ocran, who was to take over from General Bawa, needed my assistance to open the safe so that he could take over both the safe and its contents."

Akwandoh-Akorful, now unemployed, said on his way to the Camp, he saw a roadblock mounted by military men who greeted him and allowed him to pass.

After moving a short distance away from the barrier, he met Brigadier Kattah and Colonel Tebi, who called the soldiers to attack him. He said he got ready to exchange fire with them but because he was alone he surrendered and was sent to the Gondar Barracks, stripped of his attire and kept in the guardroom for three days without food and water.

Akwandoh-Akorful said on the third day he was put in a car and driven at top speed to meet some high ranking officers of the military, who asked him whether he knew the reason for his detention. He replied in the negative and his items were returned to him.

"I was so aggrieved that I decided to kill Brigadier Kattah. I drank some glasses of whisky and laid ambush for him, but one senior officer realised my intention and collected my gun from me," he said.

He said the matter reached Brigadier Kattah and he managed to get him demoted to Staff Sergeant at a time he had been commissioned as a Lieutenant and was waiting for his parchment.

Akwandoh-Akorful said he was then transferred to Tamale where he rose through the ranks to WO1 and remained on that rank. He worked as Chief Clerk at the Ministry of Defence and was seconded to the State Housing Corporation as Chief Clerk before he retired. "As a result of my demotion and transfer I lost the opportunity of rising to the rank of Lt. Colonel, which was my target before retirement.

"My children's education was cut short due to financial problems." He, however, said he had forgiven Kattah whom he blamed for his ill treatment and urged the Brigadier to give his life to God.

General Emmanuel Erskine, Member of the Commission, said he remembered Akwandoh-Akorful as a very diligent Chief Clerk at MOD, adding that his demotion and detention were wrong by all standards. He told the witness that Brigadier Kattah was currently ill and, therefore, deserved to be forgiven, adding that the Commission would do its best to address his matter.

Mr. Justice Amua-Sakyi told Akwandoh-Akorful that the Commission had evidence that he was not the only one demoted in the aftermath of the February 24, 1966 coup, saying that one Major Acquah was also demoted from the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He, however, pledged that the Commission would look into the matter and take appropriate action.

Earlier, a power outage at 11.25 hours disrupted the sitting of the Commission for the first time.

The outage interrupted the evidence of Captain Ben Edmund Duah, who was the third witness for the day. He was half way through his evidence when the power went off, making it impossible for his statement to be recorded on audio and videotapes.