Former President Rawlings will invariably have to appear in court to testify against Nana Darkwa Baafi, the young New Patriotic Party (NPP) activist who has been charged with publishing news to cause fear and alarm to the public.
The case is pending at an Accra Circuit Court presided over by His Honour, Mr. C.A. Wilson.
Nana Dakwa Baafi is alleged to have said on Top Radio, an Accra-based private radio station whilst contributing to a panel discussion last Thursday that Mr. Rawlings may have set fire to his own residence.
Mr. Rawlings's official Ridge residence was gutted by fire last on February 14, 2010 in inexplicable circumstances.
Following the record arrest and arraignment of Nana Darkwa Baafi last Thursday and a subsequent grant of his bail application by the High Court, Accra, the stage is set for what promises to be an interesting trial.
As the official occupant of his Ridge, Accra residence and the person Nana Darkwa -Baafi's comments allegedly centre on as to the source of the fire, Mr. Rawlings will definitely be a prosecution witness in the case. Also expected to be prosecution witnesses are Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings and Yaa Asantewaa Rawlings, one of the daughters of the couple who were at the residence when the deadly fire broke out.
It is not immediately known if Mr. Rawlings, his wife and daughter have already given a statement to the Police. Nana Darkwa Baafi has already given a statement to the Police.
When Mr. Rawlings appears in court to testify against Nana Darkwa Baafi, he would be expected to tell the court that when the fire broke out he was nowhere near his residence. Mr. Rawlings was reportedly at Vume in the Volta Region as part of a team on a project to deal with aquatic weeds in the Volta River.
Nana Konadu and Yaa Asantewaa who were in the residence when the fire broke out are also likely to appear as prosecution witnesses to recount to the court as part of their evidence what they saw on the day of the fire.
It is not known if Nana Konadu and Yaa Asantewaa have already given statements to the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) as part of that institution's investigations into the causes of the fire.
If Mr. Rawlings comes forward to testify against Nana Darkwa Baafi as expected, it would be his third time appearance before a judicial body in his 60+ years life. The first time Mr. Rawlings appeared before a judicial body was when after his failed attempt to overthrow Gen. Akuffo's Supreme Military Council (SMC) II junta on May 15, 1979, he was arraigned before a court martial at Burma Hall, Burma Camp, Accra.
That trial did not end as junior ranks of the Ghana Armed Forces and a handful of officers struck on June 4, 1979 and sprung him out of lawful detention to the Chairmanship of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) junta.
The second appearance was when he appeared before the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) chaired by the late Mr. Justice Amua Sakyi.
In each of Mr. Rawlings’ two earlier appearances before judicial bodies, he created what was pure drama. During the May 15, 1979 trial during his court martial, he stirred emotions when he told the court martial to leave his men (co-conspirators) alone and deal with him alone as he was solely responsible for the mutiny. That pronouncement made him an instant hero.
During Mr. Rawlings's other appearance before the NRC, when the late Justice Amua Sakyi informed him after a few questions that the commission was done with him, Rawlings expressed shock and said "Oh! Chief is that all?"
It would be interesting to see Mr. Rawlings being led in evidence to testify against Nana Darkwa Baafi as he would most likely refer to Nana Darkwa Baafi as a little 'twitch' just as he referred to NDC National Youth Organiser and Presidential Staffer Ludwig Hlodze, during his 'who born dog' outburst recently.
