Gen. Afrifa ordered staff at Flagstaff House shot - Witness

Cape Coast Feb 26 GNA - A 56 year-old former bodyguard of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Mr Jeremiah Elkellah on Thursday told the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) hearing at Cape Coast that in 1966, the late General Akwasi Amankwa Afrifa ordered soldiers to shoot at the staff living in quarters opposite the Flagstaff House.

He said in the morning of February 24 of that year, some soldiers came to the quarters and ordered the staff numbering about 40 out of their rooms and lined them up in front of the quarters.

He said Gen. Afrifa, whom he described as the "Chief Commander" at the time, then ordered the soldiers to shoot at them resulting in the death of some of the guardsmen of the Presidential Details Department (PDD) whiles others got injured.

Witness said he was shot in the arm and collapsed but later managed to crawl to the nearby Christ the King Church, from where a Priest took him to the 37 Military Hospital where he was operated upon and the bullet lodged in his right shoulder removed.

He said he was on admission for nine days, and decided to go to his hometown at Apataim, near Axim, when he was discharged, but was arrested at Takoradi by soldiers and taken to Sekondi Prisons, where he was imprisoned for 22 months during, which he was tortured and released on November 7 1967.

The Witness said he was not paid compensation at that time. He was only paid his salary for February 1966, but said he now enjoys pension and appealed for compensation for the injury, loss of his property and the inhuman treatment meted out to him.

Two of the Commissioners, Maulvi Wahab Adam and Uborr Dalafu Labal II later inspected the scars on the back of Mr Ekelleh.

Maulvi Adam commended him and his other colleagues, who have already given evidence to the Commission, for defending the nation during the 1966 coup and advised him to join the association of the former guards of the PDD.

Daniel Kofi Yankey, 68, also formerly of the PDD, appealed for compensation for his unlawful detention for 22 months, the loss of property and human rights abuses.

He said on the day of the coup he and three of his colleague travelled to Burma as an advanced party, for the President, who was due to travel to Bombay the next day.

He said when they got there they had information that there had been a coup d'etat in the country so they decided to return home and on reaching the airport, soldiers surrounded the area and arrested, beat and tortured them before taking them to the Police station where they were further tortured.

Witness said after being tortured for about two hours they were sent to the Ussher Fort, where they were detained for 22 months without trial and were released on December 7 1967.

Mr Joseph Baiwie Anaman, Former District Commissioner for Nkroful, told the Commission that he was a court registrar and was later appointed as an intelligence officer at the Flagstaff House, before he was made the DC for Nkroful.

He said during the 1966 coup he was on trek when he was arrested at Takoradi by soldiers and taken to the Ussher Fort, where he was detained for 28 months.

He said although he was not maltreated, conditions there were terrible and he as a result developed "stomach trouble" for which he had to be taken to the Nsawam Prisons several times for treatment and was released after 28 months.

Witness said all his property was looted, and his father also died from shock following of his arrest and like Mr Ekellah, Mr Anaman said he was also just paid his salary for February 1966 and was not given any compensation, and appealed for compensation to enable him take care of his medical needs since his health had deteriorated.

When Maulvi Adam asked how he feels about the soldiers, who arrested and maltreated him, he remarked: "Ghanaians should all live in peace and not maltreat each other since Ghana is for all."

Madam Mary Forson from Takoradi, a Former Dealer in cement and flour, narrated how members of the Committee For The Defence of the Revolution (CDR) at Nkoranza seized 660 bags of cement from her in 1982 and sold them without giving her the proceeds.

She said she took the consignment to her customers at Nkoranza and while she was in her room, she heard her landlord calling and when she went out she saw a young man, who asked her for the waybill covering the cement, and she asked him whether he had come to buy cement or wanted the waybill.

She said the young man told her he wanted the waybill because he did understand how she could own 660 bags of cement.

Madam Forson said she called her landlord, one Mr Opoku, who came to explain that the cement was to be used in building a house for him (Landlord), but the man did not accept the explanation and took away the waybill.

She said the next day, the young man, whom she later got to know as Kofi Ntibaah and a CDR member, came back with a vehicle and ordered her and the landlord to board the vehicle and took them to the Nkoranza Police station where they were locked up for four days, before they were granted bail.

She said after being released on bail, she tried getting back the 660 bags of cement but to no avail, and that eventually collapsed her business and prevented her children from attending school since she could no more take care of their needs.

Madam Elizabeth Arthur from Cape Coast, who petitioned on her behalf and her late husband Mr John Andoh-Boeh, also a former staff at the PDD, appealed for compensation for the loss of her husband's property and the seizure of her goods.

She said she and her late husband lived in the new quarters opposite the Flagstaff House, and that the night before the coup her husband woke her up and told her he had heard an unusual noise coming from the Flagstaff House and when they went out there was an explosion so she went back to the room and took her children out.

She said they managed to run to her aunt's house at the Ringway Estates and stayed there till the next morning when she and the children came to Cape Coast, and her husband "for an unknown destination".

She said she later got information that her husband was in detention but was not allowed to see him when she went to visit him and that he was released after two years looking very weak and was taken to his home town in the Nzema area, but died a month later.

She said her husband was not paid any pension and she did not know whom to contact for the husband's benefits.

Witness said she suffered another calamity during the June 4 1979 revolution when soldiers seized provisions she was selling at the Kotokuraba Market in Cape Coast and sold then at control price. She, therefore, appealed for compensation since the seizure of her goods collapsed her business and she could not take care of her children.

Other Petitioners at the Commission were Mr Peter Kingsley Manu and Kodwo Baiden Amissah, both formerly businessmen. They narrated how their goods were seized in 1982 and 1979, respectively by soldiers, and also appealed for compensation for the seizure of their properties ranging from cars to personal effects. 26 Feb.04