What Zanetor’s ex-boyfriend told UK authorities about the Rawlings

General news for Thursday 28 January 2021

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

2021-01-28

The life of the Rawlings is characterized by many stories. One of them was recounted by Selassie O’Sullivan-Djentuh, the alleged ex-boyfriend of Dr Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, the first daughter of the late Jerry John Rawlings (Rtd.) And Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings.

Selassie, who at the time had a very good relationship with the daughter of the former first couple, later entered their “ bad ” books, and things changed for him.

He broke off his engagement with Zanetor when he suspected that she was having a secret relationship with his flight instructor.

In a report to the UK Home Office while seeking asylum in the UK, Selassie in a five-page statement said: “My relationship with Zanetor was not without its problems as in all relationships and I had a lot of pressure on myself. Her condition for being in the relationship was a marriage that I promised and we exchanged rings.

“In the summer of 1998, his siblings told me about Zanetor’s suspicious behavior. Some of his guards also told me about it. The suspicions were confirmed when I discovered that she was allegedly involved in a secret relationship with her flight instructor. I returned her rings and broke off the relationship. She became bitter especially after all efforts on her part to reconcile were unsuccessful.

Amid an alleged death threat to his life, Selassie said he was charged with reckless driving by a public court in Accra on March 5, 1999, after a large truck knocked him off his motorcycle .

“The driver of the vehicle refused to take me to the hospital and left. I was saved by a spectator who informed my friend who in turn informed my mother. I suffered several injuries and was bedridden for over eight weeks. The police refused to disclose the identity of the driver and the way the case was handled gave me grounds for suspicion.

“Initially, the police claimed that the file was missing, then later the investigator told me that he had been called to the castle, the president’s office. He said he was just following orders and was ordered to be quiet. I was charged with reckless driving by a public court on March 5, four months after the accident without the driver of the truck being charged. They later went on air to announce that I had hit a dump truck and told police that the motorcycle belonged to the President. It was a big lie, ”said Selassie O’Sullivan-Djentuh.

On January 15, 2000, Selassie said he was arrested by soldiers sent from the castle on his way to one of his mother’s estates in Accra.

He said that “when I arrived I saw that there was a light blue van parked with two of my mother’s workers and five soldiers, some of the soldiers were in uniform. I approached the vehicle and asked the workers where they were going. The driver that I later learned to be WO Addo ordered me to sit in the van. I asked where they were taking me […] I was repeatedly punched by one of the soldiers with the butt of his rifle while the others slapped and punched me on the pulp. They hit my head against the van several times before pushing me inside. When I was in the van, I heard on the radio that they had gotten me … “

He continued: “I was taken to the castle, seat of government. I was dragged out of the van and beaten again. I was shaved with an old rusty blade and later with a broken bottle. I was told the president ordered my hair brought to him. They said that the president also ordered them to kill me and throw my body in the sea. I know my hair was picked up. I don’t know if this was actually passed on to the president.

“I have been asked about my relationship with Zanetor and how many times I have slept with her. I have been beaten several times throughout my detention. I was asked about my knowledge of the Rawlings estate (their properties and buildings) and told them that I didn’t know anything. The guards insisted that Zanetor had told me certain secrets and they wanted to know what I knew. WO Budu alleged that since my mom broadcast my kidnapping they couldn’t do as they planned, but they could sue me in any country I was running and finish me off.

Selassie O’Sullivan-Djentuh argued that her parents were tried on three false charges of assault and deception of a public official and offensive behavior.

He said his mother’s 35 houses had been razed to the ground by police claiming to be following orders from above.

“The judge in charge of the case refused to listen to my evidence to support my parents’ defense. My brother Macky could not go to school because of the threats he had received over the phone as well as the rest of the family. We all live in fear.

Selassie O’Sullivan-Djentuh noted that he had no doubts that the late president wanted him killed because of a father’s great love for his daughter, he was sorry their relationship ended abruptly.