NPP MP defends AFRC’s ‘house cleaning’ exercise

A Legislator of the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Boniface Gambila, says whether the 1979 ‘house cleaning’ exercising undertaken by the Armed Forces Revolution Council (AFRC) military junta was right or wrong, it undoubtedly succeeded in beating down corruption.

The Nabdam Member of Parliament told Radio XYZ’s news analysis programme, ‘The Analyst’ on Saturday July 13, 2013 that: “…Some people have learnt a lesson from [the] 1979 revolution. Whether you like it or not, things happened, whether it was right or not...at that time the issue was ‘we want to punish for A, B and C’ and punishments took place and some people refrained from committing similar crimes”.

The junta, led by Flt. Lt. Jerry Rawlings, governed from June 4, 1979 to September 24, 1979 after seizing power in a bloody coup that toppled another military regime – Supreme Military Council.

The regime’s 'house cleaning' exercise against corruption led to the execution of three former military leaders of Ghana, including Lt. Gen. Afrifa, Gen. Acheampong, and Gen. Akuffo.

Five other senior military officers, who were also pronounced guilty of corruption by special courts set up by the regime, were also executed alongside the three former military leaders.

Borrowing a limb from the junta’s ‘house cleaning’ exercise to justify the need for a code of conduct for Ghana’s Legislators, the Nabdam MP told host of 'The Analyst' Isaac Kaledzi that, the AFRC’s actions – whether justified or not – achieved its aim of stamping out corruption.

The AFRC was a precursor to the Rawlings-led Provincial National Defence Council (PNDC), another military regime which took power from President Hilla Limann of the third Republic on December 31, 1981.

The AFRC had handed over power to Dr. Limann after a little more than three months following the ousting of the SMC regime.

The PNDC later morphed into the current governing party, National Democratic Congress, whose founder is the same Jerry John Rawlings.