Ghana’s former leader Jerry Rawlings has been summoned by the national investigating agency after he urged Ghanaians to ”defy” President John Kufuor’s government, sources said on Tuesday.
They said the former president was expected to appear before the Bureau of National Investigation (BNI).
In a speech he made at the weekend in Kumasi, northwest of the capital, Accra, Rawlings accused Kufuor’s government of corruption and urged Ghanaians to practise what he termed ”positive defiance.”
”We don’t have to wait for the next election to prevent the rot,” Rawlings said, referring to presidential elections set for 2004.
Rawlings, a former flight-lieutenant, ruled Ghana for 19 years.
He first seized power in June 1979 and in September of the same year handed power to an elected civilian government.
He then staged a second coup on December 31, 1981. His party lost presidential elections in late 2000, and Kufuor took power in January 2001.
Two military regimes under Rawlings are accused of having tortured, tried and executed their opponents. – Sapa-AFP