By Ken K. Tweneboah Ntiamoah, Class of '67,
formerly Tweneboah Justice Emmanuel
Amanfoo!!
One early Sunday morning, you wake up turn on the TV/Radio and our President, J.J Rawlings is speaking:
" Friends, Ghanaians, Countrymen. Lend me your ears. I come to you this morning to bury my old self, not to
praise him. 20 years ago, when about 30% of the current generation were unborn or were babies, my
colleagues and I inflicted a very serious blow to this nation of ours. I was young and stupid, like most of my
followers at the time. In my state of naivity, I thought I knew everything. I thought, it was easy running a
country. I thought my predecessors were either stupid or very cruel. I wondered for years why this beautiful
nation of ours was not making any progress. In my stupidity, I thought that the fault was with the leadership at
the time. I believed in my heart then that, if I could eliminate a few of the nation's leaders(nation wreckers, I
thought) and brought in young, uncorrupted, incorruptible and "forward thinking Ghanaians who would imbue
this nation with fresh ideas, we would finally be able to lift the ordinary Ghanaian from the doldrums.
I found, to my chagrin, after barely five years at the helm of affairs that my approach to finding a lasting and
workable solution to our nations problems was not working - indeed, it was a wrong approach. However,
because of the way and manner by which I came and especially, having pronounced a death sentence upon
myself, by telling the nation tha "I am prepared to die, if I failed the nation," I found it profoundly cowardly on
my part to give up.
Countrymen, it is very hard to say, "I AM SORRY." However, I believe today that it is not only the right thing to
do but also the manly thing to do. TODAY SHOULD GO ON RECORD THAT I, JEREMIAH JOHN RAWLINGS,
President of Ghana, cease this opportune time to apologise to the nation for wrongs done inadvertently to the
people of Ghana and specifically to the families of Kwasi Amankwah Afrifa, Roger Felli, ................................
I wish like hell I could bring these people back to apologize to them personally myself. However, since it is not
possible I do so through the grace and forgivenes of God Almighty.
Let it be known to all Ghanaians, young and old, that I have come to realise that the answer to our problems
does not lie in the success of coups. A man is not successful because he was(is) able to organize a
"successful coup." Infact, the success of a man is measured by his tact and his ability to address grievances
through negotiations, not through the barrel of a gun. I have come to laern that a coup is a cowadly act
perpetrated by people who have lost their tact and ability to persuade others to cahnge. It is an act of
desperation.
Once again, countrymen, FORGIVE ME. I WAS YOUNG AND STUPID
Have a wonderful day and may God give us all the peace of mind to go on.
