Rawlings Receives Extension Of Deadline

Former President Rawlings has up to next Wednesday to respond to allegations that he ordered the murder of three judges and a retired army officer in 1982. The allegations were made by a self-confessed member of the AFRC which overthrew president Limann’s government in 1981.

Ex-Corporal Mathew Adabuga told the National Reconciliation Commission that the former president also popped champagne when he was informed of the deed. The executive secretary of the reconciliation commission, Dr Ken Attafuah, told Joy News in an interview that Mr. Rawlings failed to meet a June 6 deadline to submit a statement in his defense. He rather chose to write a letter to the commission. The contents of the letter were not disclosed to the media.

But the former president openly declared during a speech to commemorate the June 4 uprising that he would only respond to all the allegations leveled against him through a lie detector and chemical test. He also demanded that his accusers be made to go through a similar test to substantiate their testimonies against him.

However, Dr Attafuah told JOYNEWS that the commission has not received any formal request from Mr. Rawlings for the polygraph test. He also pointed out that the lie detector machine has never been a feature of any truth and reconciliation commission’s work.