“We were served Gari, kako and raw pepper in Nsawam prison “ – Rtd Maj. General on June 4th uprising detention

By
Makay
-
0
24
Retired Major General Kwamina Sam

Retired Major General Edwin Kwamina Sam has recounted his experience in the condemned cells of Nsawam prison after the June 4th Uprising.

History tells us that the 1979 uprising was a dramatic turning point in Ghana’s political and military history, with late Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings staging a coup to overthrow the then-President Dr Hilla Limann’s government.

The June 4th Uprising caused significant mayhem within the military, resulting in the detention of several officers, both high-ranking and junior, by the Rawlings regime.

Retired Major General Edwin Kwamina Sam was one of the officers detained during this period.

He recounted the harsh conditions he and other military personnel endured in the aftermath of the uprising.

According to him, he spent two days at the Nsawam prison where they were served Gari, kako and raw pepper.

Speaking in an interview with Kafui Dey, Major General Kwamina Sam (Rtd) remembered the cruel treatment that prisoners were subjected to during their confinement.

He stated, “I stayed in Nsawam for two days. This was a condemned cell in Nsawam. There were two bunk beds, with one sleeping on top of the other. Four of us were placed in a room together with our thunderbox [latrine]. We arrived around 5 or 6 PM, and they said the food had already been served. What they gave us was Gari and Kako [salted fish and raw pepper].”

“Unfortunately, the next morning, the warden came in and asked who caused the mess. They then asked the personnel to clean up the mess themselves. It was a humiliating experience,” Major General Sam recounted.

He further added that the next day the meal served at the time was “koko” [porridge] without sugar, accompanied by five days bread.

“It was so hard that we had to put salt in it just to make it edible,” he said.

He further narrated, “The prison stores had been closed, so those who arrived earlier received mattresses for the beds. However, those who came later, including Major General Sam, were forced to sleep on hard springs without any mattress”.

“Can you imagine lying on a spring bed? It was uncomfortable, but I slept like a baby because it didn’t even feel like I was on it without a mattress,” he said.

He further detailed that for Nsawam, anything one wants if they had money, they could get anything they wanted.

“If you wanted Black Label whisky or corned beef, you could get it,” he added.

Also, Retired Major General Kwamina Sam recounted how Ghanaians at the time poured bottles of whiskey on the streets in celebration when General Kotoka toppled Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah.

According to the retired General, Ghanaians at the time poured whisky on the streets, thanking God for relieving them from oppression.

He highlighted that Kotoka was considered a hero when he toppled Nkrumah.

The General stressed that Nkrumah was not in sync with his colleagues and did not carry them along, adding that the intelligencia were brainwashed and didn’t see what Nkrumah was doing.

The retired General stated, “At a time, Nkrumah fell, if you were alived at saw what happened, you could not blame Ghanaians for naming the Airport after Kotoka, there was total jubilation.

Part of the problem with Nkrumah was that he was not in sync with his collegues he meant well, but he could not carry his people with him. The intelligencia did not follow him; they had been so brainwashed and didn’t see what Nkrumah was trying to do, so the Kotoka thing was a relief.

Somebody will take a bottle of whisky and pour it on the streets after the coup, thanking God for relieving Ghanaians from oppression, so there were extreme things, ban Nkrumah, ban his book, ban everything so naming the place after Kotoka was not difficult since he died at the Airport the champs that captured him, took him to the airport and shot him there”, he added.

Watch the video below: