PAINFUL LOSS: Amedume’s Execution Was the Most Painful; He Was Such a Nice, Uncorrupted Man — Major Adjei-Ampofo

Major Patrick Adjei-Ampofo, former Military Assistant to General Ignatius Kutu Acheampong, has recounted the emotional impact of the 1979 executions, describing the execution of Amedume Amedume as the most painful for him.

Speaking in an interview with Kafui Dey, Major Adjei-Ampofo recalled the fear that gripped prisoners when the second wave of executions began.

He said he and other detainees, including Amedume, were being held in the same prison when the executions started.

“When we were in Nsawam and the second execution started, then we got really scared,” he recalled.

According to him, the prisoners resorted to prayer as they watched events unfold around them.

“We were there with Amedume, Boakye and others, and that night they came and took them away,” he said.

From their cells, the prisoners could see what was happening through the high windows.

“We looked through the window, very high windows, and we saw them all,” he recounted.

Major Adjei-Ampofo vividly remembered the moment the men came to their cell.

He said the prisoners tried to conceal their fear by pretending to be asleep, even using their dirty blankets to cover themselves.

“And we were in cell one… We pretended we were asleep. We put the stinking blanket on my head,” he said.

The soldiers, he recalled, entered the cell and checked the prisoners one after another, leaving them uncertain about who would be taken away next.

But among the executions, it was Amedume’s death that left the deepest impression on him.

“For me, Amedume’s execution was the most painful,” Major Adjei-Ampofo said.

He struggled to understand why a man he described as decent and incorruptible had been executed.

“He was such a nice man, uncorrupted,” he said.

Even decades later, Major Adjei-Ampofo said he remains unable to comprehend the decision to execute Amedume.

“I failed to understand why he was… executed,” he said.