Gen. Hamidu Denies Liberian Link
By a correspondent
But such confrontation, he assured, is without the assistance of Liberia's military power as stated in the August 18 issue of the London "Guardian" newspaper, by Victoria Brittain.
At a press conference in London's Ritz hotel Gen. Hamidu denied ever writing, meeting or discussing any coup plans against the PNDC, with the Liberian leader, General Samuel Doe.
The "Guardian" story, he described as a wicked and brazen forgery by a typical communist-bloc intelligence operation with its heavy reliance on forgery, thuggery and similar methods to hold down "a people".
Gen. Hamidu expressed profound shock and dismay that the "Guardian" being such a respected newspaper would permit Victoria Brittain to drag it into peddling the outrageous dirty and wicked tricks of the new intelligence service of Tsikata and Jerry Rawlings and be used as their propaganda mouthpiece.
"You will recall that at the height of the public outrage against the abduction and murder of the three Ghanaian High Court Judges and to divert attention from public concern about his role in it, Kojo Tsikata, Ghana's new Security Chief, produced a document purported to have come from the West German Embassy alleging American involvement in efforts to overthrow Rawlings.
"Victoria Brittain presented this story as a fact and said nothing about the firm and vigorous repudiation of the document by both the West German and American Embassies as a forgery. Ultimately the authorities in Accra themselves were compelled to admit that the alleged document was not genuine, although they sought to protect themselves by suggesting that at the time they had it, they had no reason to believe it was not genuine."
The General noted that even after this frank admission that the document on which Tsikata had relied in accusing the Americans of plotting to overthrow Rawlings was a forgery, Victoria Brittain still tried to give her readers the impression that no such denial had been made and that her story about American efforts to "destabilise Ghana" was true.
General Hamidu saw the courage of the Liberian Head of State to take a firm decision to restore diplomatic relations with Israel, which has undoubtedly made him the number one enemy of the Libyan masters of Rawlings, and a possible danger to their conspiracy to turn Ghana into a staging ground for the subversion of neighbouring West African States, as the reason they want to soil his image.
Reflecting on why they should pick on him too, Gen. Hamidu revealed that this was because he cautioned Rawlings in a letter, about such matters as the Libyan intervention in Ghana and also for being an investigator in Tsikata's activities in the 1960's which culminated in his (Tsikata's) forced retirement from the Armed Forces. The other investigator was Major Sam Acquah, who together with the three judges were abducted and killed.
He referred to the Board which investigated the murders and concluded that Capt. Tsikata was the arch planner of the murders and commented "If Major Acquah could be hounded to his death it can only be a matter of little consequence, to enmesh me in the conspiracy with which we are now concerned had I been in Ghana. Needless to say that at that material period I was being lured to Ghana by wicked and anonymous telegrams and telexes reporting my father's death while the old man was still alive".
Asked what he thinks of Capt. Tsikata's aims, the General replied, "Tsikata is playing game with Rawlings who doesn't realise what is happening and if matters were left as they are, Tsikata will overthrow Rawlings and become Head of State in three month's time. He will dump him as he's done to Amartey Kwei".
Gen. Hamidu regretted that Ghana had toyed with different governing ideas: and seen no reason why "desert ideologies" should be imported from Libya, some of which call for training of Militiamen in Ghana's three Universities, to take the place of the real fighting soldiers of the country.
Obviously, he said, Rawlings would heed no caution, controlled as he is by the band of hard core communist activists like Kojo Tsikata who have manipulated him into becoming one of the principal agents of international subversion and terrorism.
The havoc and destruction that has been wreaked upon Ghana since Rawlings usurped power is so overbearing that Gen. Hamidu cannot believe there will be any Ghanaian patriot who will be indifferent to the need to save the nation. The only monuments of their so-called revolution is destruction.
Concluding Gen. Hamidu said "I am wholly and unalterably opposed to their regime and naturally Rawlings and his cohorts must rightly presume that I will not be sitting idly by while the destruction continues.
"Yes, indeed, I am not sitting idly and I do not intend to sit idly by. But I know that the task of saving Ghana belongs to Ghanaians alone who can and must fight to save their country without the involvement of other countries, however well-meaning they may be.
"I don't hide my views and feelings, I have made attempts to persuade Rawlings and Company to change their ways which didn't work so I have to fight my way and will applaud anything which will save Ghana from Rawlings.
The Liberian government has also denied that it is plotting a coup in Ghana.
A Liberian Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement noted that the article is "an absolute fabrication to tarnish the good image of Liberia and to disrupt the traditionally cordial relations existing between the governments and people of Ghana and Liberia".
The statement continued that "It is a source of considerable regret that a national of a friendly country can, at will, crudely publish in a newspaper of distinction fake and slanderous allegations in an attempt to sow seeds of disharmony between governments and peoples of Africa".
