Rawlings Marks 20 Years Of Power

June 4, 1999

Accra, Ghana - President Jerry Rawlings, said Friday that the explosive character of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council that brought him to power 20 years ago did not always allow for balanced judgment.

"There were agonising situations and experiences and it will be naive to expect that the scars will simply go away," he said when addressing the security services and some voluntary organisations after a route march and wreath laying ceremony at Revolution Square in Accra.

Twenty years ago, Rawlings, then a flight lieutenant, led junior officers and other ranks to oust the Supreme Military Council. He instituted a four-month house-cleaning exercise during which eight senior military officers were executed.

Rawlings recalled that a few years back he addressed a message to relations of innocent people as well as wrong-doers who perished in the course of the uprising.

"At that time we stretched a hand of friendship and sympathy to their mothers, wives, children and family. Today, as we commemorate the 20th anniversary of 4 June, I want to re-echo that message," he pleaded.

Rawlings said if the nation really desires peace and reconciliation, "we do not need to go back in time, searching out every injustice, every hurt, every error."

He added that mistakes were made from as far back as the pre-independence days when some people were banished from their homes in some parts of the country for opposing the agitation for federalism.

However, Rawlings noted that there were also some positive developments during these periods which certain people would try to ignore.

"As a nation, I hope we have reached a stage in our political maturity where we can look ahead and work together in common endeavour," he said.

Rawlings said he finds it hard to forgive those who deliberately stir up political and ethnic tensions, using carefully concocted stories meant to provoke or incite others to disruptive and chaotic actions.

"The same people then turn around to advocate for peace and national reconciliation. I cannot stand their hypocrisy nor can I be expected to forgive those who engage in subtle plots and conspiracies to plunge this country into anarchy and chaos," Rawlings warned.

He said 4 June is not a simple particular event or date, adding that it represents a fundamental concept and furnished society with a new moral concept.

"The fact that it still exists reminds us of the tasks that remain. That is what must challenge us, mindful that for each (person) there is a day of reckoning," he reiterated.