According to him, he also had to keep a close eye on Acheampong’s public image and personal conduct, particularly situations that could create embarrassment for the military leader.
Related Content
Major Patrick Adjei-Ampofo, who served as Military Assistant to former military ruler General Ignatius Kutu Acheampong, has revealed that part of his job involved managing the leader’s personal behaviour and containing stories that could damage his reputation.
Speaking to Kafui Dey in an interview, Major Adjei-Ampofo said his close working relationship with senior military officers and his previous experience made him the natural choice for the position when his former battalion commander, Parker-Yarney, was leaving.
“When Parker-Yarney was leaving, it naturally fell on me,” he recalled.
He said he assumed the role without a formal handover and had to quickly establish his own routine, which included responsibility for Acheampong’s security, military intelligence and personal affairs.
“I look after the household. I look after the security, his personal security, and I looked after the military intelligence,” Major Adjei-Ampofo said.
But his responsibilities went beyond conventional military duties.
According to him, he also had to keep a close eye on Acheampong’s public image and personal conduct, particularly situations that could create embarrassment for the military leader.
“I was doing a lot of damage limitation exercises,” he said.
Asked what kind of damage he was referring to, Major Adjei-Ampofo pointed to Acheampong’s “personal foibles” and some of his habits.
He explained that General Acheampong could sometimes be unpredictable and difficult to manage, despite being a likeable and humorous personality.
“He was a likable person, but he was troublesome,” he said.
Major Adjei-Ampofo compared General Acheampong’s behaviour to that of a child who would sometimes do exactly what he had been told not to do.
“It’s like a child. When you say, ‘Don’t do this,’ it’s ironic, you go and do it,” he said.
For the Military Assistant, however, the challenge was not simply to reprimand Acheampong. It was also to prevent his personal actions from becoming public controversies.
“Certain news would break out about him, and I’d quickly organize and ‘kill’ it,” he recalled.
One of the biggest concerns was General Acheampong’s personal safety.
Major Adjei-Ampofo recounted instances when the former military ruler would drive himself out, leaving his security detail worried about his whereabouts.
On one occasion, military intelligence personnel woke him in the middle of the night because General Acheampong was missing.
“He’ll drive on his own,” he said. “And then military intelligence himself would come to wake me up in the night and say, ‘What’s up, man? Why are you doing [this]? Let’s go and look for him.’”
The team would then set out to find General Acheampong.
“His safety was very paramount,” Major Adjei-Ampofo said.
Despite the challenges, he stressed that General Acheampong was not a bad person.
“In a way, they were not bad. It’s just personal foibles,” he said.
