Ghanaian newspapers were at their creative best a day after former President Jerry John Rawlings made his appearance at the National Reconciliation Commission in the case of the murder of three judges in 1982 and a lance corporal in 1984.
Sections of the Ghanaian media had predicted a showdown between the former President and the Reconciliation Commission but the session lasted for just about fourty-five minutes after the ex-president told the commission he did not have the video tape of the interogation and execution of Lance Corporal Sakordie Addo in his possession. Rawlings also said he couldn?t find the taped confession of Joaquim Amartey which he made himself.
A shocked Rawlings laughed and asked the chairman of the commission Justice Amoah Sakyi, Oh Sir, why?
The showdown might not have happened but Rawlings? reaction as always got the headline writers busy. In twenty years everything he did was news. And even now that he is out of office, whatever he does still becomes automatic leads in national newspapers.
The State-owned Daily Graphic led with the bold headline: ''Oh Sir, Is That All''? In a story that was fully dedicated to the reaction of the ex-president when the session ended.
Another State-owned paper the Ghanaian Times went straight for the news from his submission with the headline ''I don?t Have The Tapes.''
Pro government newspapers Statesman and Accra Daily Mail were in full flight too. The Daily Mail wrote ''Thugs AT NRC as Amua Sakyi Swerves Everybody''. The Statesman led with a story on an alleged attack on their editor by people they said are NDC members but its report on the proceedings was captioned ''Rawlings The Messiah?. Gave judges murderer ''chance to cleanse his soul''.
The Free Press, which had running battles with Rawlings during his reign as President wrote: ''Anticlimax: Rawlings? No Show At NRC''.
The National Guardian led with a story on its front page under the caption ''Rawlings Goes Minus The Tapes'' whiles the National Heritage wrote of ''Mob Stones Police'' in reference to the difficulty the police had with controlling the large crowd as Rawlings made his exit from the commission.
In addition to the headlines, the newspapers carried telling pictures from yesterday?s hearings. The Graphic had photos of the former president laughing after the proceedings was pronounced over and one with him waving to a massive crowd as he made his way from the commission. Caption for the picture said Showman!
Mob Stones Police - Weekend Heritage
Hundreds of activists, frustrated by their inability to get near ex-President Jerry Rawlings, stoned the police in Accra on Thursday, as their idol seemingly outwitted the NRC over the subpoenaed tapes. But ex-President also received a shock in return.The heavily armed riot police, anxious to ensure Mr. Rawlings' security as he kept his much-awaited subpoena date with the NRC, used whips on the teeming and highly agitated crowd that mobbed his car in front of old Parliament House and made movement impossible. Smarting from the whips, a section of the crowd, some of whom had been waiting since dawn, replied with stones. One mounted policeman tumbled off and was reported later to have sprained an ankle.
Inside the house, Mr. Rawlings' forced appearance, billed to be an explosive high point of the NRC's public sittings, fizzled out in about 30 minutes; the shortness of the session left sour expressions on the faces of the expectant crowd that had converged at the NRC sitting, some arriving as early as 5am.
Mr. Rawlings himself was shocked by the brevity of his day at the NRC, which was declared over by the chairman after a few questions from the NRC to him. The Chairman of the Commission, Mr Justice Kweku Etru Amua-Sekyi, discharged him after the Former President had said he did not have a video and audio recordings of two events. Justice Amua-Sekyi explained that the Commission subpoenaed him to produce the two tapes and since he said he did not have them there was no need to keep him, adding that he would, however, be called back when needed.
The Former President could not believe his ears when the Chairman told him that he had been discharged. He opened his arms in disbelief. Sat down for sometime. Got up. Stood for sometime. Made the necessary courtesies, before leaving.
Former President Rawlings had been subpoenaed in connection with two petitions to the NRC by one Madam Yaa Adjei in the matter of the executions of Lance Corporal Andrews Sarkodie Addo in 1984, and the other by Kwabena Agyepong in the matter of the murder of the three judges and a retired military officer in 1982.
Rawlings had been subpoenaed to produce video taped recordings of the interrogation and execution of Lance Corporal Andrew Sarkodie and a taped confession of Joacquim Amartey Kwei who was tried and executed for masterminding the murder of the three high court judges and an army officer in 1982.
In his testimony yesterday, the former President told the commission that he had indeed seen the video recording and taped Amarteikwei just before he was executed by firing squad but he said both tapes were no longer in his possession.
Rawlings said he watched just about five minutes of the Sakordie tape because he was curious and revealed that the tape might be in the possession of his personal body guard for 20 years, the late RSM Isaac Tetteh, or might have been burnt in the fire at the GBC Library in the late 1980s.
The ex-President admitted that he had taped Amarteikwi just before his execution for the murder of the judges. "Captain Tsikata told you about how he had lived for 20 years with the burden of carrying a false and heinous allegation", he said. "I thought that Amarteikwei could do all of us a favour by speaking the beautiful truth, by restoring our pride and respect so that people would understand that we had nothing to do with the murders.
"So I followed the convoy to where he was going to be executed and asked him to cleanse his soul before meeting his creator by speaking the truth. He did eventually and exonerated Captain Tsikata of those murders".
When asked about the audio tape, the former President said the last time he looked and searched for it when Captain Tsikata needed it to tender in as evidence in a defamation suit against the Independent newspaper in London, but he couldn't find it.
Mr. Rawlings was accompanied to the NRC by a four-man legal team led by Dr. Ben Kumbour (MP for Lawra/Nandom), Mr. Ken Dzirasah (MP for South Tongu and Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament), Dr. Josiah Aryeh, NDC General Secretary, and Tony Little.
Ghanaian newspapers were at their creative best a day after former President Jerry John Rawlings made his appearance at the National Reconciliation Commission in the case of the murder of three judges in 1982 and a lance corporal in 1984.
Sections of the Ghanaian media had predicted a showdown between the former President and the Reconciliation Commission but the session lasted for just about fourty-five minutes after the ex-president told the commission he did not have the video tape of the interogation and execution of Lance Corporal Sakordie Addo in his possession. Rawlings also said he couldn?t find the taped confession of Joaquim Amartey which he made himself.
A shocked Rawlings laughed and asked the chairman of the commission Justice Amoah Sakyi, Oh Sir, why?
The showdown might not have happened but Rawlings? reaction as always got the headline writers busy. In twenty years everything he did was news. And even now that he is out of office, whatever he does still becomes automatic leads in national newspapers.
The State-owned Daily Graphic led with the bold headline: ''Oh Sir, Is That All''? In a story that was fully dedicated to the reaction of the ex-president when the session ended.
Another State-owned paper the Ghanaian Times went straight for the news from his submission with the headline ''I don?t Have The Tapes.''
Pro government newspapers Statesman and Accra Daily Mail were in full flight too. The Daily Mail wrote ''Thugs AT NRC as Amua Sakyi Swerves Everybody''. The Statesman led with a story on an alleged attack on their editor by people they said are NDC members but its report on the proceedings was captioned ''Rawlings The Messiah?. Gave judges murderer ''chance to cleanse his soul''.
The Free Press, which had running battles with Rawlings during his reign as President wrote: ''Anticlimax: Rawlings? No Show At NRC''.
The National Guardian led with a story on its front page under the caption ''Rawlings Goes Minus The Tapes'' whiles the National Heritage wrote of ''Mob Stones Police'' in reference to the difficulty the police had with controlling the large crowd as Rawlings made his exit from the commission.
In addition to the headlines, the newspapers carried telling pictures from yesterday?s hearings. The Graphic had photos of the former president laughing after the proceedings was pronounced over and one with him waving to a massive crowd as he made his way from the commission. Caption for the picture said Showman!
Mob Stones Police - Weekend Heritage
Hundreds of activists, frustrated by their inability to get near ex-President Jerry Rawlings, stoned the police in Accra on Thursday, as their idol seemingly outwitted the NRC over the subpoenaed tapes. But ex-President also received a shock in return.The heavily armed riot police, anxious to ensure Mr. Rawlings' security as he kept his much-awaited subpoena date with the NRC, used whips on the teeming and highly agitated crowd that mobbed his car in front of old Parliament House and made movement impossible. Smarting from the whips, a section of the crowd, some of whom had been waiting since dawn, replied with stones. One mounted policeman tumbled off and was reported later to have sprained an ankle.
Inside the house, Mr. Rawlings' forced appearance, billed to be an explosive high point of the NRC's public sittings, fizzled out in about 30 minutes; the shortness of the session left sour expressions on the faces of the expectant crowd that had converged at the NRC sitting, some arriving as early as 5am.
Mr. Rawlings himself was shocked by the brevity of his day at the NRC, which was declared over by the chairman after a few questions from the NRC to him. The Chairman of the Commission, Mr Justice Kweku Etru Amua-Sekyi, discharged him after the Former President had said he did not have a video and audio recordings of two events. Justice Amua-Sekyi explained that the Commission subpoenaed him to produce the two tapes and since he said he did not have them there was no need to keep him, adding that he would, however, be called back when needed.
The Former President could not believe his ears when the Chairman told him that he had been discharged. He opened his arms in disbelief. Sat down for sometime. Got up. Stood for sometime. Made the necessary courtesies, before leaving.
Former President Rawlings had been subpoenaed in connection with two petitions to the NRC by one Madam Yaa Adjei in the matter of the executions of Lance Corporal Andrews Sarkodie Addo in 1984, and the other by Kwabena Agyepong in the matter of the murder of the three judges and a retired military officer in 1982.
Rawlings had been subpoenaed to produce video taped recordings of the interrogation and execution of Lance Corporal Andrew Sarkodie and a taped confession of Joacquim Amartey Kwei who was tried and executed for masterminding the murder of the three high court judges and an army officer in 1982.
In his testimony yesterday, the former President told the commission that he had indeed seen the video recording and taped Amarteikwei just before he was executed by firing squad but he said both tapes were no longer in his possession.
Rawlings said he watched just about five minutes of the Sakordie tape because he was curious and revealed that the tape might be in the possession of his personal body guard for 20 years, the late RSM Isaac Tetteh, or might have been burnt in the fire at the GBC Library in the late 1980s.
The ex-President admitted that he had taped Amarteikwi just before his execution for the murder of the judges. "Captain Tsikata told you about how he had lived for 20 years with the burden of carrying a false and heinous allegation", he said. "I thought that Amarteikwei could do all of us a favour by speaking the beautiful truth, by restoring our pride and respect so that people would understand that we had nothing to do with the murders.
"So I followed the convoy to where he was going to be executed and asked him to cleanse his soul before meeting his creator by speaking the truth. He did eventually and exonerated Captain Tsikata of those murders".
When asked about the audio tape, the former President said the last time he looked and searched for it when Captain Tsikata needed it to tender in as evidence in a defamation suit against the Independent newspaper in London, but he couldn't find it.
Mr. Rawlings was accompanied to the NRC by a four-man legal team led by Dr. Ben Kumbour (MP for Lawra/Nandom), Mr. Ken Dzirasah (MP for South Tongu and Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament), Dr. Josiah Aryeh, NDC General Secretary, and Tony Little.
