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Ex-Ghanaian President Jerry Rawlings has said that there was no way his AFRC junta could have avoided the 1979 executions of three former heads of state and some top military officers. Speaking at a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) forum in Abuja, Rawlings said the killings were “very painful and regrettable, but there was no other way out’’.

The AFRC junta, headed by Rawlings executed eight senior military officers on June 16 and June 26, 1979 for alleged corruption and embezzlement of public funds. He said if the executions had not been carried out, the rank and file of the Ghana Army would have slaughtered the officer corps.

Rawlings cited the example of a military formation in Takoradi where, he said, the soldiers had rounded up some 200 officers and were taking them through their final prayers before execution before he intervened. “We were able to address that but another six were executed ten days later. It was another sad moment. I attempted to prevent it and sent an officer but the firing squad shot the officers before their commander could give the order.

Rawlings said the initial idea was to execute only former Head of State, General I. K. Acheampong and General Utuka, who was the head of the Border Guards, to assuage the feelings of Ghanaians.

“We had no choice than to sacrifice only two originally. But you must understand our country was in a state of rage then, not different from what Russia was when it had it revolution,’’ he said.

“We sacrificed these two thinking that these would exorcise the nation’s lust for blood but 10 days later the temperature was rising again.

“They (the soldiers) said we have been delaying and preventing this thing and filing excuses and I was saying we have to find where they had hidden their loot.

“How can we get it if we execute them. But the boys were too angry and wanted blood.

“That is why I am saying that when you destroy and take away the dignity from an underdog, you can give him all your wealth and diamonds, but he will kick it right back in your face and say they want your blood and that was what we where faced with.’’

Rawlings admitted that he became a hostage to the situation.

“I was a partial hostage to that situation. I had no force. The authority that I enjoyed was my moral authority with the people.

“Their action (the execution of the senior officers by the boys) was to curtail the anger of the nation.”

Rawlings was twice the head of state and was the first President of the Fourth Republic.

He first appeared on the Ghanaian political scene on May 15, 1979 when he led a group of junior officers in the Ghana Air Force in an unsuccessful coup d’état that resulted in his arrest and imprisonment.

He was court martialled in public and sentenced to death. But Rawlings won the love of the rank and file of the Ghanaian military and the public due to his bravery at the court martial.

Before he could be executed, another group of junior officers within the Ghana Army overthrew the then military government of General Fred Akuffo on June 4, 1979. The coupists released Rawlings from prison and installed him as head of the new government - the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council.

Meanwhile, Rawlings has said there is need to review the membership selection process of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) for better results. Rawlings said this in Abuja at a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) forum.

He said though the APRM is a laudable idea its composition need to be revisited to bring to reality what it was intended to achieve. “The APRM is a beautiful, laudable idea, but its composition with regards to some of the personalities involved is wrong,’’ he said.

Rawlings said that the present arrangement whereby heads of government appoint the members is not the best to get the right persons to represent the views of Africans since such appointees would not be independent. He expressed optimism that the APRM would achieve its objectives if the selection process was made more democratic.

“I think the selection into the APRM committee should go beyond political heads to make the people have confidence in it. “Traditional institutions should be brought into the selection process while the people’s choices should be those that would peer review our countries and leaders.

“Everybody should make his input toward the selection and if possible people should be made to contest through elections as this will give its reports credibility. “The APRM committee is not performing as expected because from experience in my country they are not reporting the true situation of things,’’ he added.

He, however, expressed the hope that if things were done properly the goals of the APRM would be achieved. NAN reports that the APRM is an instrument voluntarily acceded to by member states of the AU as a self-monitoring mechanism.