Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

Roger Joseph Atogetipoli Felli (May 2, 1941 – June 26, 1979) was a

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

who was once the

foreign minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

. Roger Felli was born at

Navrongo Navrongo is a town and the capital of Kassena-Nankana District in the Upper East Region of northern Ghana, adjacent to the border with Burkina Faso. Navrongo is the capital of Kassena-Nankana District – which is within the Upper East Region of ...

, the capital of the

Kassena-Nankana District Kassena-Nankana District is a former district that was located in Upper East Region, Ghana. Originally created as an ordinary district assembly in 1988. However on 29 February 2008, it was split off into two new districts: Kassena-Nankana East Dis ...

in the

Upper East Region The Upper East Region is located in north Ghana and is the third smallest of the 16 administrative regions in Ghana. It occupies a total land surface of 8,842 square kilometers or 2.7 per cent of the total land area of Ghana. The Upper East regi ...

of Ghana.

Military

He was commissioned as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

in the

Ghana army The Ghana Army (GA) is the main ground warfare organizational military branch of the Ghanaian Armed Forces (GAF). In 1959, two years after the Gold Coast obtained independence as Ghana, the Gold Coast Regiment was withdrawn from the Royal West Af ...

in 1963. He rose through the ranks after attending courses in Ghana and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Politics

After the overthrow of Dr.

Kofi Abrefa Busia Kofi Abrefa Busia (born 11 July 1913 – 28 August 1978) was a Ghanaian political leader and academic who was Prime Minister of Ghana from 1969 to 1972. As a nationalist leader and prime minister, he helped to restore civilian government to the ...

's Progress Party government on January 13, 1972, the then Major Felli became a member of the ruling

National Redemption Council The National Redemption Council (NRC) was the ruling Ghana military government from 13 January 1972 to 9 October 1975. Its chairman was Colonel I. K. Acheampong, who was thus also the head of state of Ghana. Duration of rule The NRC came into po ...

led by General (then Colonel)

Ignatius Kutu Acheampong Ignatius Kutu Acheampong ( ; (23 September 1931 – 16 June 1979) was the military head of state of Ghana from 13 January 1972 to 5 July 1978, when he was deposed in a palace coup. He was executed by firing squad on 16 June 1979. Early life and ...

. He was appointed the

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

for the Works and Housing Ministry in the new government. He later also held the portfolios of the Trade and Industry Ministry and the Finance and Economic Planning Ministry respectively. Colonel (then Major) Roger Felli was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1975. He held this position till the

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

of June 4, 1979 which brought the

Armed Forces Revolutionary Council The Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) was a group of Sierra Leone soldiers that allied itself with the rebel Revolutionary United Front in the late 1990s. While the AFRC briefly controlled the country in 1998, it was driven from the cap ...

(AFRC) led by Flt. Lt.

Jerry Rawlings Jerry John Rawlings (22 June 194712 November 2020) was a Ghanaian military officer and politician who led the country for a brief period in 1979, and then from 1981 to 2001. He led a military junta until 1992, and then served two terms as the de ...

to power.

Execution

Colonel Roger Felli was one of six senior military officers who had previously served in government, executed by firing squad at the Teshie Military Range at Teshie, at the outskirts of Accra. The executions were ordered by the AFRC and carried out on June 26, 1979. The other officers executed with him were two former

heads of state of Ghana This is a list of the heads of state of Ghana, from the independence of Ghana in 1957 to the present day. From 1957 to 1960 the head of state under the Constitution of Ghana, Constitution of 1957 was the queen of Ghana, Elizabeth II, who was al ...

, Gen Fred Akuffo and Lt Gen Akwasi Afrifa and three other military officers, namely Air Vice Marshal Boakye, Maj. Gen R.E.A. Kotei and Rear Admiral Joy Amedume. They were buried in unmarked graves at Adoagyiri near Nsawam in the Eastern Region of Ghana.

Reburial at Navrongo

On December 27, 2001, the remains of Col. Roger Felli, along with the remains of the five executed with him and two executed a few days earlier were handed over to their families at a ceremony at the Garrison Methodist and Presbyterian Church in Accra. Raphael Felli, a US-based attorney and nephew of Colonel Felli, is reported to have said "We're very upset, very angry, ... But our success is our revenge." His younger brother, Joe Felli, is reported to have demanded in a tribute, that relatives and sympathisers had the right to know what happened before his brother and the other seven senior officers brother were executed. He is also reported to have said that the spirit behind the Ghana's motto "Freedom and Justice" was still a guiding principle in the conduct of the nation's domestic affairs. He is reported to have said in addition that;

"We have the right to know what happened, as a nation, we must ensure that never again will we allow such acts and utter disrespect for the sanctity of life to recur in our country." He said the only lasting legacy that Ghanaians could bequeath to the memory of Roger Felli and his colleagues was to rededicate and recommit our selves "to the defence of, the rule of law, the defence of our constitution, even at the peril of our lives."

He was reburied at Navrongo, his hometown, after traditional and Catholic rites.

Military

Politics

Execution

Reburial at Navrongo

References

See also