Member of Parliament (MP) for Korle Klottey, Dr. Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, has recently addressed a longstanding allegation involving her late father, former President Jerry John Rawlings.
The accusation claims that soldiers, acting on Rawlings’ orders, shaved her supposed boyfriend’s head with a broken bottle, leaving him bald.
The alleged boyfriend, Selassie O’Sullivan-Djentuh, recounted this incident in his asylum application to the British Home Office.
He claimed that in 2000, after ending his relationship with a young Dr. Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, soldiers brutally attacked him.
“I was driven to the Castle, the 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 that the President had ordered my hair to be brought to him. They said the President had also ordered them to kill me and dump my body in the sea. I know that my hair was collected. I do not know whether it was actually taken to the President.
“I was questioned about my relationship with Zanetor and how many times I slept with her. I was beaten up several times throughout my detention. I was questioned about my knowledge of the Rawlings’ estate (their properties and buildings), and I told them I knew nothing. The guards insisted Zanetor had told me certain secrets, and they wanted to know how much I knew. W.O. Budu alleged since my mother had gone on air about my abduction, they could not do what they had planned, but they could chase me to any country I run to and finish me off,” part of Selassie’s five-page statement at the British Home Office reads.
In her first public comment on the matter, during a June 27, 2024 interview with GHOne TV, Dr. Agyeman-Rawlings categorically denied any involvement by her father.
She explained how the false allegations affected her deeply, especially since she was very young at the time and there was no opportunity to clarify the truth to the public.
She clarified that her relationship with Selassie had ended by the time of the incident, which she said was related to a land dispute, not her father.
“My dad had nothing to do with that. The story that I had heard regarding how that all happened was that there was some land issue, and there was some military person involved. At the time, we were not even friends. This was long after I’d gone my way, and he had gone his way. So, this was a bit strange, actually, but politics again, you know, I think it was just a perfect story for the time.
Dr. Agyeman-Rawlings shared how the allegations had a psychological impact on her and influenced her approach to politics.
“That bothered me a lot because, at the time, I felt quite unfairly treated because the fact is, the story wasn’t true, and no room was being made for the true version of the story to be told because nobody really wanted to hear it at the time. And, I mean, I was young at the time, you know, doing my little ‘chrife’ thing on the side. And this was a bit devastating, actually, for me.”