Today in History: 52 years after overthrow of Dr Nkrumah

Exactly 52 years ago, Ghana recorded its first coup which saw the overthrow of 'arguably' one of Ghana's best President few years after Great Britain gave Gold coast independence.

The coup led by Col E.K. Kotoka, Major A.A. Afrifa opened the floodgates of further military interventions, it cannot be disputed that it was that action which opened up the political space again, and brought notions of democratic development back to the centre of our national deliberations.

On February 24th 1966, Ghanaians woke up to a rude shock radio announcement in the early hours of the morning that the government of the President, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, had been overthrown, and the myth surrounding him had been broken, that the CPP (the only recognised party) was a proscribed party, and that parliament had been dissolved, that the Constitution was suspended to be substituted by military decrees, and all Ministers, District Commissioners, CPP party functionaries and apparatchiks, should report without fail to the nearest police station for their own safety and security.

According to historians, A. A Afrifa wrote he visited Colonel Kotoka in his house in Kumasi and they spoke about Nkrumah's forthcoming visits to Hanoi, and agreed that during his absence, a coup should be staged.

Afrifa said it seemed that Kotoka had been thinking about a coup for some time.

“ He was so happy that we stayed up until the early hours of the morning drinking beer and making plans.”

The next day the pair made a plan and swore to each other that in the event of anything happening to either of them, the one left alive would see the coup through.

Kotoka went to Accra to meet  J.W.K. Harlley then Commissioner of Police.

It was agreed that Major-Gen Ankrah should lead the new government.

The exercise started at 04.00am on Wednesday 23rd February 1966, 600 men representing all the units in the garrison at Tamale started moving.

“They were moving to the south and to an unknown destination for a test exercise in connection with the Rhodesian operation. Since November 1965, we had been in the high state of readiness to move into Rhodesia at short notice. We exploited this situation to deceive the intelligence system.”

Kotoka and Afrifa met the troops between Ejura and Atebubu at midday, then Kotaka went to Accra to confirm to Harrley and Brigadier Ocran that the exercise was going ahead.

Meanwhile, Major Coker- Appiah, a trusted friend of Afrifa's from Sandhurst, was assigned responsibility for the arrest of the director of Military Intelligence, Brigadier Hasan, and the Commander of P.O.G.R, Colonel Zanerigu.

The arrest of the late Major -General Barwah was a separate exercise. The director of MI surrendered on orders, and the P.O.G.R Commander escaped through a window.

Afrifa reported that Barwah resisted arrest “most unwisely and thereby compelled an officer to adopt other methods which he himself knew would be adopted if he was stubborn.”

By 6.00am on 24th February the Accra police had rounded up most of the Ministers.

“Not a single shot was fired at the Castle. At the Flagstaff house, our casualties would have been very heavy if the opposition had been trained properly, and by this time most of our men were wounded.”

The coup captured the Ghana Radio Station and at 05.25 hours were in full control of the studios.

“I went on radio and asked the now awakened Ghanaians to stay by the radios for important announcement at 6am and I told them, there would not be the usual news.”

Just before six o'clock, Kotoka arrived at the radio station, shaking Afrifa's hand congratulating him on the coup.

He went on air stating: “Fellow citizens of Ghana, I have come to inform you that the military in co-operation with the Ghana Police, have taken over the government of Ghana today. The Myth surrounding Nkrumah has been broken. Parliament is dissolved and Kwame Nkrumah is dismissed from Office. All ministers are also dismissed. The CPP is disbanded with effect from now. It is illegal for any person to belong to it.

“We appeal to you to be calm and cooperative; all persons in detention will be released in due course. Please stay by your radios and await further details.”

The leaders of the coup that overthrew Nkrumah immediately opened the country's borders and its prison gates to allow the return from exile or release from preventive detention of all opponents of Nkrumah.

The National Liberation Council (NLC), composed of four army officers and four police officers, assumed executive power. It appointed a cabinet of civil servants and promised to restore democratic government as quickly as possible.

General Ankrah was removed from office in April 1969 and Lt. General Akwasi Amankwa Afrifa became the Chairman of the NLC, which later gave way to a three-man Presidential Commission with General Afrifa as chairman. The Commission paved the way for a general election in 1969 which brought into power the Progress Party government, with Dr Kofi Abrefa Busia as Prime Minister and Mr Edward Akufo Addo as president.

1972 coup

Despite broad popular support garnered at its inception and strong foreign connections, the Busia government fell victim to an army coup within twenty-seven months. 

Acheampong led a bloodless coup d'état to overthrow the democratically elected government of the Progress Party and its leader Dr Kofi Busia on 13 January 1972. He became Head of State and Chairman of the National Redemption Council (NRC), which was later transformed into the Supreme Military Council on 9 October 1975, with Colonel Acheampong as its chairman.

1979 coup

Ghana's third military coup was planned by a small group of disgruntled officers. On May 15, 1979, less than five weeks before the national elections, Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings and several members of the air force (junior officers and corporals) unsuccessfully tried to overthrow the government. During the court-martial of the coup's seven plotters, Rawlings justified his action by claiming that official corruption had eroded public confidence in the government and had tarnished the image of the armed forces.

The AFRC was in office for only three months and, in pursuance of a programme already set in motion before the uprising, allowed general elections to be held. On 24th September 1979, the AFRC handed over power to the civilian administration of Dr Hilla Limann, leader of the People's National Party which had won the elections.

1981 Coup

In the wake of the continuing downward plunge of the country, the Limann administration was overthrown on 31st December 1981, ushering in a new revolutionary era of far-reaching reforms and rehabilitation at all levels. Flt.-Lt. Rawlings became the Chairman of a nine-member Provisional National Defence Ruling Council, (PNDC) with Secretaries of State in charge of the various ministries being responsible to the PNDC.

In 1992, Jerry Rawlings retired from the military and set up the National Democratic Congress (NDC). He legalized political parties and organized Presidential and Parliamentary elections, in response to demands for a more democratic process concerning the governing of the country.

Rawlings and his party won with 58.3 percent of the vote, with outside observers declaring the voting to be "free and fair". In 1996, Rawlings went on to win a second term as President.

After two terms in office, barred by the constitution from standing in any election, Rawlings endorsed his vice-president John Atta Mills as the presidential candidate in 2000.

 In December 7, 2000, elections, John A. Kufuor of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), won the largest share of the presidential vote with 48.17% of the vote, compared to 44.54.% for Rawlings vice-president and hand-picked successor, John Atta Mills of the NDC. The NPP also won 100 of the 200 seats in Parliament. The NDC won 92 seats, while independent and small party candidates won eight seats.

In the December 28 run-off election, with pledges of support form the other five opposition parties, Kufuor defeated Mills by winning 56.73% of the vote and the NPP picked up one additional MP by winning a by-election, giving them 100 seats and a majority in Parliament. 

President Kufuor took the oath of office on January 7, 2001, becoming the first elected president in Ghana's history to succeed another elected president. He was re-elected in December 2004 for a second four-year term, becoming the first civilian president to fully serve his tenure.