Former President Jerry Rawlings’ legal team has described the evidence of Matthew Adabuga to the National Reconciliation Commission, as a pack of lies carefully fabricated to tarnish the image of the former president and his wife. The team led by Dr. Benjamin Kumbour says Adabuga’s testimony is false, baseless and calculated to create public hate against Rawlings and his wife.
Adabuga, a former corporal in the Ghana Army told the Commission that Jerry Rawlings gave the order for the murder of three judges and a military officer in 1982. Adabuga who described himself as one of the main architects of the December 1981 coup also alleged among others that Rawlings popped champagne to celebrate the murder of the four persons.
Dr. Kumbour told a news conference in Accra that the Commission’s failure to notify the former President about Adabuga’s appearance before the commission is worrying. The legal team is demanding transcripts of the ex-corporal’s evidence including both the audio and video copies for their study and subsequent reaction.
Dr. Kumbour says the team would also demand an opportunity to cross-examine Adabuga on behalf of the former President. Reacting to some specific allegations made by Adabuga, Dr. Kumbour said Rawlings was not resident nor was he operating from the Castle during the period ex-corporal Adabuga referred to.
''We will expose Mr. Adabuga for what he is. He must be exposed when for instance he claims the former President went to a refrigerator to take the champagne to drink on hearing of the murder of the judges. Mr. Adabuga claims this took place at the Castle. Yet the fact is that Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings, the chairman of the PNDC was from 31st 1981, through the time of the cruel murder of the judges and long after, was at all material times at the Gondar Barracks in Burma Camp so it cannot therefore be true that Adabuga met the then Chairman of the PNDC after the murder of the judges at the castle''.
Dr. Kunbuor also described as false ex-corporal Adabugu’s claim that he works with the Red Cross office in Norway. According to him, it strongly suggests that the witness was not properly investigated.
The legal team has faulted the commission for not providing any prior information to the former President, although it had fore knowledge that the ex-corporal Adabuga would implicate the former President.
''The commission had prior knowledge of Adabuga’s allegations through an earlier statement he made to it. This earlier statement implicated the former President and others. The obvious question then is why did the commission not write to the former President about the allegations for him to respond, if he chose before Adabuga was given the hearing in public''.
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