A security expert has extolled the expertise of former President Jerry John Rawlings in coup making and has recommended the government to seek his help on matters concerning the subject.
In particular, Adam Bonaa of the Security Warehouse, wants the government to ask the architect of the 1979 and 1981 coups in Ghana, whether it is possible under the present conditions, for a medical doctor to overthrow a government with a kitchen knife and improvised guns.
Speaking on Joy FM Tuesday, Mr Bonaa described the government’s announcement of an attempted coup, as creating panic which can scare investors from the country.
The ensuing controversy, he said, could have been avoided had the government checked with “the father of all coups” before making the announcement.
“If for nothing at all, they could check with J.J Rawlings, the father of all coups, probably he ended all the coups in Ghana, they should ask him.
“Most of these people who led the 1979 coups, fortunately, are still alive, the father of them [J.J Rawlings] is still alive, speak to him if this is how a coup is done,” he said on the Super Morning Show.
In a government statement signed by Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, personnel drawn from Defence Intelligence, CID and Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) conducted a successful operation which led to the arrest of three persons – Dr Frederick Yao Mac-Palm and his two accomplices – Ezor Kafui (a local weapon manufacturer) and Bright Allan Debrah Ofosu (aka BB or ADC).
But Mr Bonaa told Daniel Dadzie, host of the SMS, that the government’s explanation is not convincing.
It was wrong for the government to conclude that the suspects meant to overthrow the Nana Akufo-Addo regime, he said.
He further stated that it will be difficult for the whole of Ghana’s military to organise a coup, much less the few people caught at Alajo with those weapons.
“These guns cannot even hunt [squirrels and rats] in the Dodowa Forest; I’m being very honest with you,” he mocked.
Referring to the 1979 coup, he said conditions which make coups possible are completely absent in the current coup discussions, making it impossible for anybody to contemplate any act of that nature.
“Is it that easy to topple the president of the Republic of Ghana and destabilise the whole country? “I saw the 1979 coup and other coups after 79, we are nowhere closer to that.
“Has there been any spontaneous agitation where people are queing for groceries, water, fuels, essential goods and services,“ he quizzed.
The Head of the Security Warehouse Limited, a security consultancy organisation, added that even in the days “when we used to have the power go off for days, we did not have this statement coming from the government.
“You need a mass movement and the support of the rank and file of the military, including the police to have a coup,” he revealed.
However, Information Minister in an earlier interview on the Show maintained that the government has in its possession audio and audiovisual materials to back the claim that the persons in custody planned to overthrow the current administration.
“For us, we are pleased that the state security agencies did not wait for it to get too late…We have informed the nation and the next step will be that they [security agencies] would have to complete their interrogations and their investigations and take it before a competent body to adjudicate this matter.”
Lawyer for the suspects, Victor Kojogah Adawudu, however, suspects the development may have been the creation of the government to divert attention from the public on other sensitive issues.
