We Deplore Rawlings' Distasteful Comments – Utuka's Family

For the last 34 years, we the children of the late Major General (Rtd) Edward Kwaku Utuka have felt the need to keep a dignified silence about the ranting of Jerry John Rawlings regarding our late father and other senior military officers who were murdered following the June 4 th 1979 coup d'état. Thankfully, compassionate and discerning Ghanaians have expressed their outrage at Rawlings' recent insensitive, heartless and outrageous statements concerning the extra-judicial murder of our late father and his colleagues.

Our beloved father was a professional Army Officer who served Ghana in various capacities with honour and distinction, and of this we are very proud. Our father was murdered without any semblance of a proper and fair trial by Rawlings and his cohorts.Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) member Captain Baah Achamfuor and Squadron Leader Kosi Dargbe, Chairman of Rawlings' Kangaroo Court apparatus confirmed this on oath before the National Reconciliation Commission. It is now known thatour father was killed in a sick bid to create ethnic balance and equalisation in the June 4 th 1979 coup d'état murders.

Over the years, Rawlings has spoken and acted with impunity. While he enjoyed due process by trial through a Military Tribunal after instigating a mutiny on 15 th May 1979, he denied our father that right. Rawlings singles out two Generals, one of whom is our father,General Utuka as having been 'very corrupt'. Rawlings should know that it is one thing to accusea person of corruption based on rumours and another to actually prove them guilty in a court of law.   If one were to apply Rawlings' logic, several Ghanaian politicians, himself included, would be executed without trial.

Rawlings has shown no sensitivity in his comments and actions to the widows, children (including the orphans he created) and families of the deceased over the years and continues to make provocative statements which are meant to incite hatred and anger, thus re-opening wounds. While preaching probity, accountability and justice all these years, Rawlings has never subjected himself to any of these principles and has characteristically hidden behind constitutional indemnity clauses to protect himself.

We say to the self righteousRawlings that no precious human life is worth sacrificing even during the overthrow of a government. The so called 'excesses' that took place during the June 4 th coup d'état were human beings -people's fathers, husbands andsiblings. We advise him to learn to bevery circumspect in his future utterances about the injustices he committed against our father and his colleagues. While we believe in freedom of speech, w e call on all journalists and politicians to eschew glamourising the atrocious June 4 th 1979 mutiny. Romanticisng this event only serves to encourage Rawlings to rub salt in our wounds. As life is not over yet, the good Lord will judge!

CHILDREN OF LATE MAJOR GENERAL (RTD) EDWARD KWAKU UTUKA