June 4 still stands against corruption - Movement

Accra, June 5, GNA - The June Four Movement (JFM) on Friday renewed its call for the sustenance of the fight against all forms of corruption and acts of vendetta in the body politic of the nation. Mr Nii Adjei Boye Sikan, Coordinator of JFM, said it should not be lost to the nation that "if there is awareness today that corruption is inimical to progress, and for that matter many institutions and governments have identified it and are fighting it, then the June Four action has indeed been vindicated".

Mr Sikan, who was speaking at the 25th Anniversary of the uprising, said those of the "June Four tradition" were among the first, if not the first in contemporary Ghana to make the boldest effort at combating corruption".

Young military officers and other ranks took up arms on June 4, 1979 and rescued Flight-Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings and other soldiers who were being tried for attempting to overthrow the Supreme Military Council under the chairmanship of Lieutenant-General F.W.K. Akuffo on May 15 1979.

The Mutineers established the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC).

The AFRC ruled the country for three months and handed over to the People's National Party of President Hilla Limann.

The JFM Coordinator said since it rose against corruption it had never ceased condemning it.

"We re-call with reverence the blood that was shed on that fateful day, and many more that had to be shed during the 25 years that we have travelled, all with the view to consolidate 'People's Power'. "To all these heroic ones we wish to reiterate that we shall never allow their names and deeds to be smothered by the dust of the ages or to be obliterated by inactions on our part nor by the works of our opponents", he said.

He also recalled that the appearance of the Movement on the political scene was not without a historical and economic significance. Mr Sikan expressed regret that opponents of the Movement had refused to appreciate its landmarks, strides and breakthroughs.

He said in commemorating the event it was necessary for all to address the problems of unemployment, rising cost of education, health, shelter, water, electricity and fuel.

He condemned what he described as "current unnecessary arrests, frame-ups and detentions of former government officials" and urged the government to recognize and respect the opposition and treat its leadership with the decorum they deserved.