Roger Joseph Felli Colonel Roger Joseph Atogetipoli Felli ( May 2 , 1941 – June 26 , 1979 ) was a soldier and politician who was once the foreign minister of Ghana . Roger Felli was born at Navrongo , the capital of the Kassena - Nankana District in the Upper East Region of Ghana . Military . He was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Ghana army in 1963 . He rose through the ranks after attending courses in Ghana and the United Kingdom . Politics . After the overthrow of Dr . Kofi Abrefa Busia ' s Progress Party government on January 13 , 1972 , the then Major Felli became a member of the ruling National Redemption Council led by General ( then Colonel ) Ignatius Kutu Acheampong . He was appointed the Commissioner 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 of June 4 , 1979 which brought the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council ( AFRC ) led by Flt . Lt . Jerry Rawlings 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 , 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 .