JJ meets security chiefs

After commending police effort in arresting the suspects believed to be architects of the murder of the former deputy managing director of Ghana Commercial Bank, Mr. Roko Frimpong, former President Rawlings has, through his actions over the last week, demonstrated that he is still passionate about the gruesome act.

At exactly 8 p.m., Thursday, November 26th 2009, former President Rawlings met leaders of the country’s security detail at the Jubilee House, precisely at the presidential office of the abandoned presidential mansion, to deliberate on the murder of Roko and the possible way of eliciting from the four ex-commandos arrested in connection with the act what might have motivated their action.

According to the police, the four, including Tahiru Adams, Jonathan Abi, aka Joe and Atta Kakra also known as Kariyansu, were allegedly part of the gang said to have murdered the former deputy managing director of the Ghana Commercial Bank.

At the meeting, the former President charged the security leaders to use any means possible to find out from the suspects, as it is being speculated, they were sponsored to kill Mr. Frimpong.

The three hour meeting, TODAY picked from its intelligence signal, was attended by National Security Advisor, Brigadier General Nunoo-Mensah, National Security Coordinator, Col. (Ret’d) Larry Gbevlo Lartey and the head of the Jubilee House Security, Emmanuel Amedeka.

The Rawlings move, TODAY intelligence suggests, is part of the personal crusade mounted by the former President to unravel the mystery surrounding the gruesome act which latest findings suggest, were committed by operatives of the former NDC 1 administration. They are currently being held by the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) for interrogation.

TODAY gathered that the Rawlings anger is partly stemmed from the fact that two of the suspects were part of his security detail during his tenure as President and could not fathom that all the while his life and that of his presidency were in the hands of people with such awful record.

Further gleaning by the paper’s intelligence suggests that credible report received by the former President offer an indication that Mr. Roko paid a huge price for fighting against moves by elements within the Kufuor administration who thought the slain Commercial Bank boss was an impediment to a huge windfall they were expected to make during the re-denomination exercise.

With the introduction of the new Ghana Cedis, all old Cedis that were sent to the banks were expected to be “punched” and later burnt.

The move, TODAY gathered, was resisted by some top officials of the Kufuor government who used their influence within the national banks to get access to the monies that were to be destroyed.

This is because within that period the old currency was still a legal tender and it is believed the fierce resistance put up by Mr. Frimpong against the practice might have necessitated his premature demise by the suspected assassins.

Mr. Roko Frimpong was killed by some unknown assailants in his Sakumono house, near Accra, raising public outcry that the act might possibly be committed by contract killers, to settle scores on behalf of certain individuals.

The police at the time admitted that the murder was premeditated, saying their deduction was premised on the fact that before his death Mr. Frimpong had been receiving death threats.