‘I have nothing against him’ – Kwabena Agyapong on alleged killing of his father by Rawlings

Son of Kwadwo Agyei Agyapong, one of three High Court Judges who were abducted and killed during the Third Republic, Kwabena Agyei Agyapong, has said he has no issues with late President Rawlings who is alleged to have ordered for the gruesome murder of his father.

He asserts that despite the incident’s pain, he must let it go due to the difficult relationship he had with his father as the first male child.

Speaking with Captain Smart on Maakye Wednesday, May 10, 2023, the NPP flagbearer hopeful said he has learnt from history to forgo certain things.

“I don’t have anything against him. Wherever I met him, I chatted with him. The last time Haruna Atta’s wife –Nana Konadu’s sister –died, she came to my house and we all attended. In life as we move on, we have to heal. There are certain things that didn’t go well but we learn lessons from history,” he indicated.

Some three High Court Judges namely; Kwadwo Adjei Agyapong, Poku Sarkodie and Cecelia Koranteng-Addow together with Samuel Acquah, a retired Major in the Ghana Armed Forces, were abducted and shot dead.

Their bodies, which were set on fire, would have burned to ashes had it not been for a downpour on June 30, 1982.

What all three judges had in common was that they had reviewed cases of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), an earlier military regime led by Jerry John Rawlings.

The military officer, Major Acquah, who was killed alongside the judges, was involved in the dismissal of Amartey Kwei, a member of the PNDC from Ghana Industrial Holding Corporation (GIHOC) for partaking in a Rawlings-instigated protest.

The soldiers sentenced to death and killed for the crime said they were carrying out orders of the state.

Mr Rawlings and his National Security Advisor, Captain Kojo Tsikata, have vehemently distanced themselves from the atrocities.

Meanwhile, Sgt Akata-Pore spoke from his base in the United Kingdom.

For Mr Akata-Pore, a lot more would have been uncovered if persons, he described as “critical” were investigated.

Although the former president appeared at the National Reconciliation Council (NRC), the former soldier said the killings will not go away until specific questions were answered.

Much of these answers, in his view, were with former president Rawlings because he knew more than anyone else.

“The Chairman (Rawlings) had a lot to do about it but he was not called to be investigated. How can the investigation be complete if persons of critical interest to the case have not been interviewed,” he queried.