Page 330 - They Also Served

African coups, such as in Liberia the following year, Rawlings executed anyone who might lead opposition to his government in what was referred to as a ‘house cleaning exercise.’ After a biased and rigged show trial, with unproven charges of corruption and embezzlement, Akuffo, Acheampong and another former head of state and alumnus, Akwasi Afrifa (they had been in the same platoon at Sandhurst), together with Robert Kotei (Sandhurst 1960), Foreign Minister Roger Felli (Sandhurst 1963), Border Guard Commander Edward Utuka (Sandhurst 1961) and the Navy and Air Force commanders were executed by firing squad at the Teshie military range.
Rawlings remained in power until 1996, when he finally handed over power to the democratically elected John Kufuor. One of the new president’s first acts was to oversee national reconciliation. The bodies of Fred Akuffo and the other seven executed with him were exhumed on 27th December 2001 and returned to their families for burial.
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