The Dzelukope Mafia: The group that dominated Ghana's leadership during Rawlings's era

An ever-present feature of Ghana’s political history is the tags or labels usually slapped on the ruling class as a sarcastic way of identifying the group of persons wielding powerful influence in the country’s leadership architecture of the time.

These tags are often coined to reflect the general feeling of the country towards the persons dominating the governance principles and also establish the trend of how members of an ethnic group dominate power in the country.

Under Kufuor, it was the Ashanti Cabal; Mills’ government lived with the reputation of the Fante Cabal, and the Akyem Mafia is associated with the Akufo-Addo government.

For those who witnessed the Rawlings administration, the Dzelukope Mafia is a moniker that resurrects memories of the Jerry John Rawlings administration from the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council era through to the Provisional National Defence Council era to the era of the National Democratic Congress.

The Dzelukope Mafia was coined by opponents of Jerry John Rawlings to establish how Rawlings, especially in the military era, surrounded himself with army officers and high-ranking officials who came from the Volta Region.

Persons like Captain Kojo Tsikata, Professor Kofi Awoonor, Tsatsu Tsikata, and Dan Abodakpi were believed to be part of the group that wielded so much power during the reign of Jerry John Rawlings.

In his appearance before the National Commission of Reconciliation, Captain Kwabena Baah-Achamfour (rtd) spoke about the power the Dzelukope Mafia wielded during Rawlings’ era and their role in the death of former Head of State, Ignatius Kutu Acheampong.

“But my information is that there were other reasons for the General's execution. A cabal of tribalists who have come to be known as the Dzelukope Mafia wanted General Acheampong dead.”

Captain Kojo Tsikata who is a prominent member of the supposed Dzelukope Mafia was a controversial figure that continue to divide opinions among Ghana’s political historians.

While some credit him for his role in the successes chalk by the Rawlings administration, others also fault him for some major incidents in the Rawlings administration including the controversial execution of the generals.

Jerry John Rawlings, it will be recalled first led the country briefly in 1979 before handing over the Limann government.

He ousted the Limann government in a coup in 1981 and ruled the country from there till 2001 when he handed over to John Agyekum Kufuor.