Mills can’t rule without interference from Rawlings — Cpl Adabuga

Corporal Matthew Adabuga, a member of the Armed Forces Revolution Council (AFRC) which overthrew the Limann government in the 31st December Coup, has said that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential aspirant cannot rule the country without interference from the former President, Jerry John Rawlings.
Speaking at a press conference and the pre-launch of his book, “ RAWLINGS- Murder & Lies”, he said the assertion by the NDC that Prof Mills if given the nod in the December 28 presidential run-off would not be intimidated by the former president was false because given the true nature of Rawlings, he was not a man who believed in sharing power.
He said the reason why he wrote the book, was to expose the true nature and character of Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings, and to give a true account of what happened during the December 31, 1981 revolution.
“On that day, in the heat of the fighting, when things were not going well for us, I arrested and detained Rawlings, because he was a coward and wanted to run away,” he stated and recalled that on the morning of January 1, 1982, when they captured the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, Rawlings was still under arrest in a captured armoured vehicle.
“It was only after the battle for GBC was over that, I signalled for Rawlings to be brought so that he could make the announcement to the nation,” he added.
Currently, he said, Ghanaians were faced with a crucial choice in deciding which political party should rule the country in the next four years but in his view the choice that Ghanaians made today would determine the kind of future their children would have.
That choice, he said, had to be an informed one, “a choice guided by the full force of historical facts, which he believed was very important and had to be preserved.
According to him, the fear of the military that was encouraged by the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) meant that most of the facts were hidden from Ghanaians since not so much had been written about that period of the country’s history.
He blamed the former President for the problem of tribalism that threatened to tear the country apart, noting that former President Rawlings should be blamed for creating and feeding the tribal tension in Ghana.
He explained that the former President used tribalism as a tool to convince the Northerners in the army to revolt and overthrow President Hilla Limann in 1981, and had earlier incited the Ewes against the Ashantis when he accused the Ashantis of hijacking the whole country.
“Like all political parties there were factions and internal differences, some of which led to legal battles. Rawlings took advantage of this opportunity to convince us of a plot hatched against Northerners by Fantes, who according to Rawlings, were planning to overthrow Limann and hand over power to a Fante, Kankam Da Costa” he emphasised.
He said Rawlings lied to them that they, the Northerners, represented by Limann were under threat from Fantes such as De Graft Johnson, Reilly Poku and Ackah Blay Meizar who represented the new guards in the People’s National Party (PNP).
Corporal Adabuga continued that in the Central Region, the Rawlings-controlled NDC based its message on tribal sentiments asking voters to vote for Prof Mills because he was a Fante during the December 7 election.
He therefore urged Ghanaians not to be fooled into thinking that Prof Mills was a man of his own and could withstand intimidation from the former president if voted into power.
“Atta Mills is not important. The NDC is Rawlings. Rawlings is NDC. Rawlings has the money and power within the NDC”, he pointed out and noted that it was important that Ghanaians, particularly the youth, learnt the truth about Rawlings since they were in danger of being misled, just as they were in their youth.
Corporal Adabuga who is currently based in Norway, and is a Nowergian citizen said he had been traumatised and writing the book was the only way he could show remorse.
He asked Ghanaians to forgive him, once again as he had apologised when he appeared before the National Reconciliation Committee, during the hearing of those who were victimised under the AFRC and PNDC era.