Adabuga, Rawlings In Book Deal

MR. ADABUGA Mathew, a former Corporal in the Ghana Armed Forces who was a kingpin in the staging of the 31 December 1981 military uprising led by Mr. Jerry John Rawlings, will soon launch a historic book about the revolution that turned the country upside down.

Adabuga, now based in Oslo, Norway, apologized to the nation for his complicity in overthrowing the constitutionally elected government of President Hilla Limann.

He explains why he and others attempted the abortive coup of 19th June, 1983 and says:

“As we salute the fallen heroes of the June 19th, 1983 abortive coup, we would like to remind Ghanaians that the purpose (of the book) is to bring Rawlings and his government to account for the murder of the three high court judges and the retired major among other human rights violations.”

“As providence would have it,” Adabuga continued, “the National Reconciliation Commission provided a platform for the whole world to hear the truth through my testimony before the Commission”.

According to him, the book explains the much sort-after motive behind the abduction and brutal killings, and will also be the first insider information about the events of that fateful day when the country was gripped with a dramatic jail break and attempted coup d'état and the coup of 31st December, 1981.

In his view, when all these are made open, it will help the nation learn lessons and also forestall the recurrence of such bloody events.

Adabuga gave an insight into what happened in those days, who were involved, how discipline broke down and how they failed to track down Mr. Rawlings.

“Discipline broke down among the ranks and we had no choice than to withdraw. We failed to track down Rawlings at the Achimota Forest and Legon due to faulty intelligence, but we finally tracked him down somewhere around Madina.

With the heavy fire fight that ensued, Rawlings managed to climb a tree for refuge; he was later lifted to safety by a helicopter hovering around.”

He explained that as darkness fell, they had to put plan B into action. “By first light, we were in Kumasi as planed. Here, we were led to the palace to meet the late Asantehene by his brother, Nana Akwasi Agyeman.

The Asantehene told us he had to consult his subjects and get back to us as soon as possible. Meantime, we were in touch with some officers and men from the 2 Brigade HQ and the 4th Infantry Battalion who were ready to help us in taking over the Northern Command.”

Adabuga mentioned the names of persons who helped to facilitate these movements as including Messrs Bilson, Manu and Victor Adabuga.

“After hiding in the forest near Kubasi village, hometown of Adam Sackey, one of our colleagues for 5 days, word finally came that the chiefs could not reach a consensus to support our cause. We were therefore advised, and decided to stand down for another day.

“Some of my friends and I ran away to the Ivory Coast while others fled to Togo.”