Most Ghanaians have been raising questions about the truth in the story of Abigail Mawutor [Rawlings] who was seen by many for the first time at the funeral of former President Jerry John Rawlings claiming the late president was actually her father.
MyNewsGh.com has been speaking with some persons mentioned with knowledge about the matter and we have received clarifications that can only be confirmed or negated by a DNA test which Madam Abigail has said she is ready to subject herself to.
Aside her resemblance to Mr. Rawlings, this unknown 52 year old daughter of the ex-President reportedly has a daugher that is like a carbon-copy of Zanetor.
Some of rhe family members of Rawlings from the Volta Region who spoke under strict anonymity praised 52-year old Abigail because since the family found her, she had participated in most Agbotui family events and activities at Dzelukope as a recognized daughter of Rawlings but has never made the news. She has been low-key about it. They say she has been un-intrusive and never sought to create scene about it.
They believe her coming out ito the media is a form of grief as a result of lacking a chance to mourn her father properly, although there were things that should have been done before Rawlings died that couldn’t happen which would have saved the situation.
The story
The story goes that in 1967, Rawlings in final year secondary school, aged 20 then, allegedly impregnated Rose Agbodzi Sende, an Ewe in Accra but originally from Togo. The young Rawlings allegedly pleaded with Rose to keep the pregnancy secret because his future was at stake, which Rose agreed.
In March 1968, Abigail was born to a single mother, the same year Rawlings, 21, was settling down as an Airforce Cadet.
Rose met someone willing to marry her and left her child Abigail with an old lady at Adabraka in Accra where the child grew up, knowing she had only a mother, and not knowing her father.
MyNewsGh.com sighted an Eyewitness who was her mate in Primary school and corroborated her story.
“I know this beautiful lady back in the days, she attended St Joseph Primary School at Adabraka. The rumours was rife then that Rawlings was her father.”
This will not be surprising because by the time Abigail would have turned 12, her “father’s” face and name was known nationwide, especially in the Adabraka areas where she lived with an old woman caretaker.
While it was rumoured her father was Rawlings, some of her caretaker’s neighbours spread rumours that she was a “fatherless bastard”.
Finding her father
In an effort to find her father as an adult, Abigail confronted her mother, Rose A. Sende about who her father was, whereupon she was told the whole story about what happened in 1967 and how Rawlings was her father.
Abigail has said in an interview that before her mother opened up about Rawlings, she had had numerous dreams involving Jerry Rawlings as head of state.
The young daughter started looking for Rawlings after her mother’s confession and found her way to Rawlings family home in 2002 where she was accepted. A member of the family who spoke on strict condition of anonymity said prior to her appearance, they had heard from some travelers from Togo saying there was a lady at Lome claiming Rawlings was her father, hence meeting her was bound to happen somehow.
It must be stated that contrary to reports, no one in the family remembers any photograph Rawlings ordered circulated to find the girl. Several attempts to reach Grace Omaboe (Maame Dokono) for some additional facts was futile.
According to sources, when Rawlings was informed of her sudden appearance and claim, he neither denied nor confirmed it. However at various times, he enquired about her and on a number of occasions since 2002, he acknowledged her by sending her money for upkeep and to start a business.
It is not clear whether Rawlings gathered courage to inform his wife and her children about the existence of Abigail as a long lost but found daughter, if he accepted her.
We can therefore say that the story of the 52 year old Rawlings daughter could be true but has been a well-guarded open secret, unknown only to Rawlings nuclear family in Accra, if he didn’t inform them before his death. However, the Volta side of the family knew of her existence.
The facts summary
The basic facts as gathered by MyNewsGh.com are that Rawlings, born June 1947 completed Achimota O’Level in 1967 and joined the military academy at Teshie same year, before moving on to the air force the following year. Rose Agbodzi Sende allegedly got pregnant for him in 1967 and gave birth to Abigail Mawutor [Rawlings] in March, 1968.
Rose got married and left her child behind in the care of an old relative at Adabraka where the child grew up before later making efforts to reach out to the family in 2002 and has been with them until the larger public heard about her yesterday.
–: MyNewsGh.COM
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