Meanwhile, at the 37military hospital, three military Humvee trucks drove into the parking lot and came to a screeching stop. Soldiers from the Special Forces Unit (SFU) of the army sprung out, armed to the teeth. They were unaware that the person they were after had just slipped away; they were about thirty seconds too late. They dashed into the hospital, heading for the men’s VVIP ward where they heard the Acting President was. The soldiers from the RRU who were guarding the Acting President and who had stationed themselves on the corridor leading to where she was were taken by surprise by their colleagues from the SFU.
“Drop your guns! Now!” Sgt. Isaac Adodi, the leader of the Special Forces ordered. The three RRU soldiers, realizing they were outnumbered, immediately complied.
“Where is the Vice-President?” Sgt. Adodi asked.
“She is in the room” one of the RRU soldiers said, pointing to the door. They were then ordered to lie down. Sgt. Adodi instructed four of his men to storm the room and arrest Gertrude Mensah and whoever she was with.
“If you meet any resistance, shoot!” he added. The four soldiers who were to carry out that order moved swiftly to the door, kicked it open and burst in, ready to shoot. They found the room empty.
Quickly, one of them dashed to the washroom but found it empty. They reported back to Sgt. Adodi. He immediately ordered the three RRU soldiers to be hulled up.
“You said she is in there but she is not. You lied!” he said.
“We have told you the truth. We are here guarding the place because we know she is inside. If she is not, then that means she used another exit without our knowledge” Cpl. Kutsuatsi, one of the three RRU soldiers replied.
It began to drizzle.
Sgt Adodi ordered two of his men to go back to the room and find out if there was another exit out of it. The two dashed back into the room and came out later to say the only other way out was through the window and they found it unlocked which means Gertrude Mensah went out through it.
“I see. She and whoever she is with may still be hiding somewhere here. I give you five minutes; search every place. The two of you, take these guys to the vehicle and keep watch over them,” Sgt. Adodi said. While two of his men led the three RRU soldiers back to the Humvee trucks, the rest left to search the hospital. Doctors, nurses, paramedics and patients stared at the soldiers as they searched the hospital. Sgt. Adodi himself went in search of the hospital authorities to explain to them why he and his boys were at the hospital and the reason for the search. Five minutes later, the search was over. The Acting President was nowhere to be found. Sgt Adodi went back to the Hospital Administrator, Colonel Addae-Mensah, to apologize for the intrusion. Then he and his boys left, leaving the three RRU soldiers behind.
On the way, he phoned Major-General Omari Duah, the Army Commander and told him Gertrude Mensah left the hospital before they got there. The Major-General in turn phoned the Speaker of Parliament and told him the Vice-President was not at the hospital.
“Okay Omari. While we are at it, contact Brigadier Addy and order him to release Rex Yamoah and one Kruger immediately. These two knew about the plot and tried to stop her but have rather been wrongly arrested by the MI boys”, the Speaker said.
“Yes sir!” Maj-Gen Omari responded. Ordinarily, he would have called the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) to brief him about the order from the Speaker of Parliament but the Speaker had told him the plot may involve other senior persons in government including the CDS so he was not to confide in him (the CDS) about the operation until they are sure he is not part of the plot.