Those behind 22 year Long Conspiracy of Lies and Character Assassination

Four individuals perished on that fateful night of June 30, 1982; they were cold bloodedly murdered by four soldiers. Three of these soldiers were caught, tried and sentenced to death by execution. One other, Lance Cpl. Samuel Amedeka who had recruited them, was caught but escaped from jail during a coup attempt against the PNDC and to date is still at large.

The mastermind of the murders, as was later revealed by Amedeka and the other soldiers was Amartey Kwei, at the time a member of the PNDC. His life was not spared either; he was competently tried and sentenced to death by execution. These four paid fully for their crime.

There is however a group of persons walking freely today who are worse than the five who were behind the 1982 murders. These are worse even though they have not committed physical murder; they are. Because they wickedly capitalized on the murders that were committed, to further destroy Amartey Kwei by manipulating a beleaguered man, whose conscience was already heavily weighing him down on account of the killings he had masterminded; these utterly wicked people, worsened Amartey Kwei's predicament by maneuvering him to put out the wicked lie that Capt. Kodzo Tsikata was the principal mastermind of the crime. To physically kill, they say, is horrible but to literally destroy the soul of an innocent person or group of persons as these have done for 22 years, is worse than the most horrendous physical assassination.

How did they do this and what was their motivation? These are the questions that this expose will endeavor to bring into the open. But before this, may we pray that the souls of all these victims may rest in peace. How many victims were there? Initially four, those who perished in the night of June 30; but then the four soldiers who killed them were victims also to an extent- victims of the lie told them by the mastermind of the murder, that the four individuals were enemies of the revolution that must be 'liquidated' as Amedeka put it. It may be hard to accept, but even Amartey Kwei, the mastermind was a victim somewhat; initially a victim of blind rage and revenge that misled him to conceive and bring to fruition the brutal murders, but later a victim of a sordid and wicked manipulation of the real beneficiaries of the 1982 murders who are still here with us.

Amartey Kwei's Historic statement

To truly find whom these wicked personalities are, we need to highlight a bit more the circumstances that surrounded the second statement of Amartey Kwei implicating for the first time Capt Tsikata. Amartey Kwei had been arrested on November 8, 1982. The first statement he made to the SIB was done a week later on 15th November. Nowhere in that statement was the name of Capt Tsikata mentioned.

The SIB claimed that Amartey volunteered to make a new statement on 23rd November 1982. Amazingly at the very time this "historic statement" was being produced, there was widespread bloody fighting as a major coup attempt was being waged against the PNDC. What a great sense of timing Amartey Kwei had? A day earlier, on 22nd November 1982, Brigadier Nunoo Mensah (now a kingpin of the NPP) issued his letter of resignation as Chief of Defense Staff and Member of the PNDC. Another classic case of perfect timing, one might say. Among the reasons he gave for resigning was that "people in responsible positions" were involved in the murder of the judges. This was on the eve of a major coup attempt against the PNDC. A Coincidence?

The two gentlemen whom the SIB claimed took Amartey Kwei's statement at the time serious military confrontations were raging all over the capital, were Chief Superintendent Yidana and ASP Oduro. In what can only be described as an amazing show of cool headedness, these two with incredible serenity were supposed to have calmly looked on, as Amartey Kwei dictated his statement, went over it with them, had it recorded by them and signed it in front of them.

The Plot Thickens

So far so good, it would seem- but it turned out that the two, who were members of the SIB's technical investigation team, were linked to the coup of 23rd November; which led to the arrest, prosecution and conviction of Yidana. So how reliable was the statement taken by these two coup plotters, on the very day the coup was being staged, some hours after the Chief of Defense Staff and Member of the PNDC, Brig. Nunoo Mensah had tendered in his resignation? Was there any link that joined all these seemingly coincidental happenings? Yidana's blatant evasiveness during his cross-examination before the SIB would strongly point in that direction coupled with the dodgy conduct of the SIB with regard to the evidence of Brig. Nunoo-Mensah, which we will presently touch on.

In a poor attempt to explain away the questionable circumstances under which The SIB chose to hear Brig. Nunoo Mensah in camera, the bizarre explanation was given that during the SIB's deliberations at the office of its Chairman on the 7th December 1982 exactly two weeks after the Coup attempt, Brig. Nunoo Mensah arrived there with the Principal Secretary of the Interior Ministry with a message that the Brigadier was about to leave the country and was thus required by the government before he would be permitted to leave. The SIB thus claimed that it was compelled under the circumstances to hear him in camera. How very intriguing?

But that's not all. The real deal is this: two days after this camera appearance before the SIB, Brig. Nunoo-Mensah made a further handwritten statement for the SIB. And like Amartey Kwei, this second statement can also be described as historic. If Amartey Kwei's implicated Capt Tsikata, Brig. Nunoo-Mensah's sought to finish off what Amartey Kwei had begun; but there was one major miscalculation- the kind that is familiarly committed by all people who attempt to lie and cover up dirty trails. He failed to reconcile the dates properly before opening his mouth wide.

The Unbelievable Discrepancy

It would be recalled that he had resigned from the PNDC on 22nd November 1982; at the time he said one of the reasons was that "people in responsible positions" were behind the killings. Now on 9th December, he asserts that he was specifically referring to Capt. Tsikata and cites the statement of Amartey as his source of information. How clinical! How Neat!

Hear what the Brigadier submitted to the SIB: "In my letter of resignation on 22nd November 1982, I mentioned that among the reasons that compelled me to leave the Government was the indication that certain important political personalities might be implicated in this sordid act. My reason for saying this was based on Amartey Kwei's confession statement in which he had admitted complicity and also indicated that Captain Tsikata masterminded the operation. I had no evidence outside of this."

The Brigadier and his friends at the SIB however forgot that there was a damning discrepancy in the dates, which would expose the grand conspiracy of lies, viciousness and subterfuge in due course. How both the Brigadier and the SIB could fail to realize that the Brigadier's resignation letter was written a day earlier than Amartey Kwei's statement and therefore could not have been used as source of information, would long remain a subject of wonder. But there it was. The Brigadier and his SIB friends completely lost sight of this Mega Discrepancy. We can say that the God of truth truly rules in the affairs of men.

How did the Brigadier foreknow what Amartey Kwei was going to do the following day, unless those who manipulated Amartey Kwei into changing his earlier statement, had also hinted the Brigadier on or before 22nd November 1982 of the impending change of statement. If this were the case, then adding up the coincidence of the coup attempt the very next day, in which two key personalities of the SIB were connected, one can only wonder at the intricate web of subterfuge that this operation involved!

Placed against the backdrop of widespread CIA successful contacts with key individuals in the country at the time, with a view to overthrowing the PNDC, a clearer picture starts to emerge.

The SIB obviously realized this goof too late so the Board chose not to include the statement in its list of exhibits in Appendix B, on page 73 of its report. How significant! More than that was the fact that in its report the SIB deliberately wrongly cited the letter of resignation of the Brigadier as having been tendered on December 22 instead of November 22. A classic case of desperation to justify the unjustifiable.

A Classic Case of Conspiracy

In its final report, the SIB in paragraph 333, pretended, as though Brig. Nunoo Mensah did not name to the board which individual in responsible position he claimed was behind the crimes. What else can account for this deliberate pretense except the fact that this whole thing was an integral part of a diabolical conspiracy?

What else could explain the SIB's decision to discount Amedeka's clear and consistent pronouncements clearing Capt. Tsikata's name, but chose to rather uphold Amartey Kwei's obviously mendacious allegations.

What else except a vicious conspiracy could account for the SIB's dogged dismissal of the statements of P.V. Obeng and Guzzie Tanoh on the whereabouts of Capt. Tsikata in the afternoon of 2 to 3 pm on 30th June 1982, without even questioning them for clarification whilst choosing to believe Amartey Kwei's lie on that issue? A further proof of Amartey Kwei's mendacity in this particular issue is the recent revelation that one of Amartey Kwei's former GIHOC colleagues has admitted that he went round and showed Amartey Kwei the homes of the victims.

What else but evil conspiracy could explain the reason why the SIB report failed to mention the statements of Nanfuri and Major Agbenoto, in which statements Amedeka's affirmation of no connection whatsoever with Capt. Tsikata was unmistakably accentuated?

If there were no conspiracy why would Amedeka under cross- examination by Tsatsu Tsikata go as far as to point to a member of the investigation team then present, as having persistently attempted to lure him to bring in the name of Capt. Tsikata? Thank God that Amedeka and his colleagues stood their ground and refused to further soil their consciences by joining the obvious vicious conspiracy. They may have been deceived to commit murders but they certainly still had a minimum sense of truth and moral rectitude to refuse to join another dastardly plot.

What else but a wicked conspiracy could explain the conduct of the Chairman of the SIB in interrupting Tsatsu Tsikata's cross-examination of Amartey Kwei at many points when the latter was cornered, and in allowing Kwei to get away with rudeness and cheekiness? History definitely repeats itself as can be seen in what recently occurred at the NRC when the obviously biased Chairman, another justice, allowed pathological liars like Adabuga and Chris Asher (the fraudster, the alleged murderer and the fugitive from justice) to get away with rudeness and cheekiness during cross-examination.

The Motivation

What could have the motivations of the conspirators? Get Kodzo Tsikata implicated. Overthrow the PNDC with the aid of external collaborators and use the implication of Kodzo Tsikata in the murders as the justification for the coup. That was a smart calculation and largely explains the pivotal happenings on both 22nd November and 23rd November. Amartey Kwei obviously must have been promised some lenient consideration as the coupists, if successful would have used his confession to establish that he and the others were mere pawns in the hands of Captain Tsikata.

Poor Amartey Kwei! The horrible crime of masterminding the murders of four people was bad enough. He further succumbed also to the temptation to implicate an innocent man in addition to the horrible crimes he had conceived and implemented. No wonder that, when in his last moments, he was offered the opportunity to cleanse his soul before meeting his maker, he avidly seized the chance graciously offered him by his friend Flt. Lt. Rawlings at the firing squad to profusely apologise to Capt. Tsikata for the wicked lies that he had uttered against him. Thank Goodness that he at least had the final courage to dispel, even if only a little, the thick dark cloud of accumulated culpability he had carried for many months.

Thank Goodness also that the Daily Graphic of 22nd August 1983 reported the late Kwei's confessions on its front page. But for that report in the Graphic, the collaborators of the wicked lies and distortions would have even been more emboldened today to continue to befoul the environment with their horrible lies.

Despite All the Evidence

In spite of all these clear evidences, these wicked conspirators with the aid of their collaborators in power today and their media mercenaries have continued to clutch at straws, choosing to overlook this mountain- high pile of evidence of conspiracy and rather depend on past falsehoods, newly churned fabrications from equally desperate liars and completely innocuous and immaterial evidences like the fact that the keys to the vehicles were picked in Mrs. Rawlings' flat. (Read last week's issue of the Lens to understand the ludicrous nature of this last claim.)

Some desperate attempts have also been made by these people to also create the impression that President Rawlings must have been involved somewhat because he did know about the murders before the broadcast since Amartey Kwei was supposed to have informed him in a meeting on July 2, 1982. First, this famous meeting on July 2 has been categorically denied by key personalities who were supposed to have been present; i.e. Capt Tsikata and Tsatsu Tsikata.

Besides, assuming without accepting that the Justice Aikins' famous July 2 meting did occur as stated by him. Does the supposed stunned and traumatized reaction of Rawlings upon hearing the news, not constitute ample evidence of his innocence? And following upon that logic, would it not be the paramount duty of a conscientious head of state not to go ahead into putting that, as yet unverified information in a public broadcast, when there was as yet no independent confirmation of what Amartey Kwei was supposed to have said?

Was it not the duty of a good leader to condemn such a wicked crime and was it not the truth that whoever committed those crimes could only have been enemies of the then fledgling revolution? A friend is not one who claims to share a collective ideal but one whose deeds are consistent with those ideals. Amartey and the four by that dastardly act showed clearly that they were essentially at variance with the aims of the revolution, and by the logic were well qualified to be described as enemies of the Revolution. But the bottom line is that President Rawlings had nothing whatsoever to do with the crimes and those who are bent on carrying along these lines, very well know this for a fact, but for sinister political reasons continue heedlessly to do so.

The Final Plea

We deliberately do not want to even concern ourselves with the recent claims and allegations of thoroughly discredited and questionable characters like Chris Asher the fraudster and fugitive from justice; neither do we want to take seriously the largely amnesic renditions of aged and quasi senile Justice Aikins, whose testimony and those of the two others blatantly contradicted each other. These simply do not merit the attention of any serious minded analyst of these issues.

In conclusion, shall we make a final appeal to the little that is left of the conscience of this wicked gang of conspirators, and their present day collaborators by asking them to ponder over the following questions Capt Tsikata posed to the members of the NRC.

"How would you feel if you were falsely accused before the world of such a crime? How would you feel if even after you had been cleared and the allegations retracted, the same allegations continued to be repeated and brought up again and again as if they were true? Is there no end to the propagation of these false accusations?"