KOMENDA COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

HISTORY OF GHANA FROM ANCIENT TIMES

GROUP 5

THE ACHEAMPONG AND THE AKUFFO’S ADMINISTRATION

 THE ACHEAMPONG AND THE AKUFFO’S ADMINISTRATION

HISTORY OF I.K. ACHEAMPONG

General I.K. Acheampong, together with General Akwasi Amankwaa Afrifa and General
Federick William Kwasi Akuffo alongside five senior military officers: Amedume, Boakye,
Felli, Kotei and Utuka, were executed by firing squad on 26 June 1979.

This was after the 4 June Uprising, staged by the then Captain Kojo Boakye Djan. The June 4
Military coup ushered in the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), which was to be
headed by one Flt-Lt Jerry John Rawlings.

Born on 23 September 1931, in Kumasi, Asante Region, young Kutu’s early education began
in Trabuom Elementary School, St. Peter’s Catholic School, Kumasi, and Central College of
Commerce, at Agona Swedru, in the Central Region. He had to his credit Middle School
Certificate; GCE ‘O’ Level and a Diploma in Commerce.
Acheampong then undertook various jobs related to his qualifications until he was enlisted
into the Gold Coast Frontier Force as a recruit in 1951. Like the late Colonel Baidoo, Private
Acheampong, rose through the ranks and by 1969, had become one of the few influential
Akan military officers in the Ghana Armed Forces.

According to military historians, this brought Acheampong closer to civilian politics when
power was handed over to democratically elected government of Dr Kofi Abrefa Busia in
1969.

Rumors have it that the then “Brigade-Major” Acheampong, upon recommendation of

former Head of State General Afrifa, became not only a close pal to Prime Minister Busia but
also, to his ruling Progress Party (PP) which he toppled on 13 January 1972.

Col Acheampong, later General, ruled as a head of state of Ghana from that date until his
second-in-command, General F.W.K Akufo also deposed him in a palace coup on 5 July
1978.

Acheampong’s National Redemption Council (NRC) which he formed in the early years of his
rule but later transformed into the Supreme Military Council on 9 October 1975, when he
promoted himself from a Colonel to a General, is said to be one of the successful military
regimes in Ghana’s political history.

The most cited policies of the said Nkrumah’s sympathizer Acheampong, were the
introduction and implementation of the change from the imperial to the metric system of
measurement and the change from driving on the left to right-hand drive- dubbed:
“Operation Keep Right” (Nifa, nifa… naa nyin).
General Ignatius Kutu Acheampong had passion for agriculture so his Agriculture
Commissioner- Colonel Bernasko, sought to imprint development based on ‘Operation Feed
Yourself’- self-reliance in agriculture, in the minds of the Ghanaian.

Acheampong’s regime is well remembered for its National Reconstruction initiative geared
towards employment promotion and skill training for workers. Projects such street lights
reconstruction and upgrading of stadia to meet global standards, can hardly be ignored.

But not only these- the introduction of the Charter of Redemption and the National Pledge
recited in schools, are perhaps, enduring legacies that successive regimes have failed to
uphold. So, Acheampong could be described as a leader who promoted national unity.

There were indeed, other side of the coin. General Acheampong’s drive to make himself
president for life through the foiled Union Government (UNIGOV), raised many eyebrows
not only within his own military commissioners but also, among the Ghanaian population
who recently escaped Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s one-party state Government- the CPP, toppled
on 24 February 1966.

So, in a referendum which took place on 30 March 1978 to decide on the question of
whether the Ghanaian was to accept or reject the emerging military-cum-civilian political
rearrangement, majority of the intellectuals opposed the idea.

Yet, the result swung in the SMC regime’s favor. As usual a hooping 60.11 per cent said yes
to the UNIGOV, while some 39.89% scorned at the military-cum-civil political concept and
accordingly, kicked against it. This ignited the usual allegations of voting rigging and its
associated finger-pointing.
For example, Justice Isaac Kobina Abban- the then electoral commissioner, who later
became Chief Justice, went into hiding for fear of his life and the pressure to manipulate the
results. This could be probably equated to the outcome of the just-ended 07 December
2008 general election.
All these, coupled with alleged widespread corruption known then as kalabule and the
yentua diplomatic posture [reluctance to pay both domestic and international debts accrued
by his previous], obviously, perverted the said God-fearing, sympathetic and humorous
military leader.

As was to be expected, his SMC regime, eventually brought to a political shame and his
eventual overthrow and confinement to his Trabuom village and death.

General Acheampong and his colleagues, were hastily court-martialled, charged and
executed for allegedly exploiting among others, the military profession to amass wealth.

More recently, Major Djan submitted that their seniors were killed because they unlawfully
overthrew civilian regimes- and here, the First and the Second Republican Constitutions of
1957 and 1969.