Selassie O’Sullivan-Djentuh, the former boyfriend of Zanetor Rawlings, the first daughter of President Jerry and Nana Konadu Rawlings, has applied to the British government to be given refugee status in that country.
In a five-page statement to the British Home Office, Selassie, 23, gave details of how he met Zanetor, how close they became, why the relationship broke down, alleged attempts to kill him, his abduction and reasons why he and his younger brother should be given asylum. A copy of the statement has been forwarded to the British High Commission in Accra.
We publish the statement to the Home Office;
STATEMENT OF SELASSIE O’SULLIVAN-DJENTUH
A. BACKGROUND
My name is SELASSE O’SULLIVAN-DJENTUH. I am a Ghanaian citizen. I wish to apply for asylum on the following grounds:
I was introduced to Zanetor Rawlings (the eldest daughter of President Rawlings) by my friend Selasse Kpanga. He was in a relationship with Asantewaa Rawlings, the second daughter of President Rawlings.
Zanetor and I exchanged phone calls and visits on a regular basis. Early 1997, I was introduced formally to her parents. Since Zanetor lives with her mother, I came into contact with the First Lady regularly. Both parents were accommodating and hospitable. There was no objection from either side whatsoever to our relationship. I was invited to state functions as part of the First Family’s entourage and accorded the same protocol. I had a personal relationship with both parents. I was invited on family trips and went flying with the President on several occasions. He took Zanetor and I to the Presidential Villa at Akuse to spend weekends.
I was on good terms with Zanetor’s siblings and treated them like my own. I was the older brother they never had and they were the sisters I never had. My brother Leslie went to Achimota School with Zanetor and Asantewaa and was in the same class with the latter for three years.
My youngest brother Macky is the same age as Kimathi, the only son of the President. Due to security reasons, they were restricted to visiting certain places and had no friends. It was only natural for them to visit my parents’ home regularly and spend long hours there. They were always accompanied by armed guards.
My parents were skeptical about the relationship especially the length of time Zanetor and her guards spent in the house and the way the entire family came to the house. My father thought it was not safe for the family. All these notwithstanding, my parents were very hospitable. My mother would cook them meals and also feed the guards and drivers who accompanied them because they could not leave their post and considering the long hours they spent on duty they would otherwise go hungry. My parents never had a personal relationship with Zanetor’s parents. Given their concerns about security, they avoided them or at least tried to do so.
I came to University in September 1997 in London and Zanetor went to Dublin. We continued the relationship and exchanged visits regularly. On my arrival in London, I was introduced to the Ghana High Commissioner, Mr. J. Aggrey-Orleans by the First Lady and asked to call on him anytime should the need arise. Anytime the President or First Lady visited London, a car from the Consulate was dispatched to fetch me to meet them.
I went to Ghana in December 1997 to spend Christmas with my family. The First Lady complained about me leaving Zanetor in London where she was spending the holidays with Mr. Aggrey-Orleans, so I was sent back. I arrived in London on Christmas day. Both Zanetor and I went back to Ghana in the summer of 1998.
My relationship with Zanetor was not void of problems like in every relationship and I had a lot of pressure on me. Her condition for being in the relationship was marriage which I promised and we exchanged rings.
During the summer of 1998, her siblings told me about Zanetor’s suspicious behaviour. I was also told of this by some of her guards. The suspicions were confirmed when I found out she was allegedly involved in a secret relationship with her flying instructor. I sent her rings back to her and broke the relationship. She became bitter especially after all efforts on her part to reconcile were unfruitful. However I still maintained a good relationship with her family. On one of my visits, my last visit to their house, Kimathi accused me of “challenging” his father because I drove the same car as his father and owned a motorcycle similar to the one owned by his father. I considered it a rather odd statement to be uttered by a child of his age.
