I didn’t hesitate to execute people for heinous crimes - Rawlings

Former President Jerry John Rawlings says he did not hesitate in executing people for committing the atrocious crimes in the country when he was the leader of Ghana. “It is not an easy decision to sign a death

warrant, is it? Some but not all; I mean some of the obvious ones to do with robbery and killing etc. I don’t hesitate with that”, he said on radio. “But at the same time, there is a time that I feel I’m going to execute a

saint because of the possibility of regret they will be going through before they die. And I wish I could let them off, but if I do there will be a perpetuation of whatever cost”, he emphasized. Explaining further,

Mr Rawlings said “a few too many people have been shot in cold by my brother Larry Gbevlo Lartey, for instance, my friend Squadron Kojo Lee; it was difficult to allow [execution] it, and I remember even when it was done, a lot of people thought I have helped him to escape, to leave the country People didn’t believe

he [Kojo Lee] was actually executed.” “There was another gentleman who just kept Killing people for rituals in his village. You can probably go and ask Victor Smith whether that man was a murderous character. He was the only one executed outside Accra; we had to execute him in his village,” Mr. Rawlings added.