Gov't to assist in re-burial of executed military officers

Government has provided a casket and seven million cedis to each of the widows and families of the eight senior military officers who were executed by firing squad during the June 4 uprising in 1979.

They were General Akwasi Amankwaa Afrifa, General Ignatius Kutu Acheampong, and General Fred W. K. Akuffo, all former Heads of State.

The rest were Air Vice Marshall Yaw Boakye, Rear Admiral Joy Amedume, Major-General R.E.A. Kotei, General E.K. Utuka and Colonel Roger Felli.

President John Agyekum Kufuor announced this at a meeting with the widows and families of the deceased at the Castle, Osu, on Wednesday.

President Kufuor said the seven-man Committee under the chairmanship of Air Marshall M.A. Otu, former Chief of Defence Staff, which organised the exhumation and identification of the corpses, had also been tasked to provide further legitimate assistance requested by the bereaved families to complete the process.

He said government's decision in response to a petition by the widows and bereaved families about three months ago, was in line with its policy to promote national reconciliation and close the unhappy chapter of the country's history.

"I am aware that reconciliation cannot totally undo the past and in your case, your loved ones cannot be restored to life. But you are at least being enabled to accord them dignified burials and identifiable resting places.

"I therefore count on you to accept my decision in the spirit of reconciliation and attend to the final obsequies of your loved ones in peace and with dignity. I pray that we never have to go through such traumas again in this country."

Mrs Christiana Afrifa thanked God for the change in government and the decision by the government to assist in the reburial of their beloved ones.

She expressed appreciation to the members of the Otu Committee and others for their work, which had culminated in the government's decision.

"No amount of legal (issues) or money could have given us the bodies of the deceased. It is God who has done this and we are grateful to him and all who have done such an honour to our beloved ones," she added.

Mrs Beatrice Afia Boakye, who was almost in tears, appealed to the government to release the corpses to them at the same time and provide a space at the Military Cemetery at Osu for their reburial.