National Liberation Council

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The National Liberation Council ( German  National Liberation Council ; abbreviation NLC) deposed the first military coup in Ghana on 24 February 1966 first president Kwame Nkrumah . On April 3, 1969, this military junta was replaced by the Presidential Commission .

The fall

While President Nkrumah was on a trip abroad in Asia, the coup plotters took advantage of his absence to take power. The trip was preceded by an order from Nkrumah, which called on the army to be ready for a combat mission in what was then southern Rhodesia (today: Zimbabwe ) in order to overthrow the regime there. Kotoka used this instruction for massive troop movements and declared them "for training purposes" in the mountains near Accra . In fact, he used this order to take power, with the military support of Afrifa.

Kotoka called the successful coup against Nkrumah at 6:30 am local time on the Accra radio station. Afrifa was able to secure the radio station during the coup.

Some sources also report the involvement of Russian troops who fought on Nkrumah's side. There was fierce fighting locally and some people were killed.

Ultimately, the fall in cocoa prices and a general economic decline led to the overthrow. The NLC was considered to be western-oriented, Nkrumah pursued a socialist course. For the coup plotters and larger parts of the population, Nkrumah had become a symbol of the country's financial difficulties.

There was hardly any resistance from the population because the Nkrumah regime had disappointed many interest groups.

The coup went under the code name Operation Cold Chop .

Members of the NLC

The National Liberation Council was composed of four military leaders and four senior police officers who had worked together in the coup. Half of the members were military personnel and half were leaders from the police apparatus. It is characteristic of the coup that it was middle-ranked and middle-senior military men who planned to take power. A high rank in the military was only Ankrah, who was formerly deputy commander of the army of Ghana .

Military

  • Major General (later: Lieutenant General) Joseph Arthur Ankrah , of the Ga people , chairman until April 2, 1969
  • Major (later: Colonel) Akwasi Amankwaa Afrifa , of the Ashanti people , chairman after April 2, 1969
  • Commander of the second infantry brigade Colonel (later: Major General) Emmanuel Kotoka , of the Ewe people , died on April 17, 1967
  • Commander of the first infantry brigade Colonel (later: Brigadier General) Albert Kwesi Ocran , of the Fanti people

police

Other participants

Cabinet of the NLC

Foreign Minister:

Minister for Social Affairs:

Minister for Communications ( Commissioner for Communications ):

other: Chief Justice

First actions

After the fall of Nkrumah, prisons and national borders were opened to all detained opponents of the former president. The NLC assumed executive power in the country. The Nkrumah party, the CCP and all successor organizations were immediately banned.

Members of the old regime, cabinet members, members of parliament, party officials, regional officials and other officials from the districts were detained for a few weeks without a trial; some sources refer to this detention as protective custody. Books by Nkrumah or on socialism were burned alongside communist propaganda.

Accounts of the former party and country leadership were frozen; later also party funds.

The 1960 constitution was repealed and the former ministries were placed under the direction of NLC members who took over day-to-day affairs as agents.

NLC policy

The NLC set up a commission of inquiry that uncovered numerous cases of corruption . The NLC tried to clean up the economy. To this end, the state-owned companies established under Nkrumah were closed and around 40,000 workers made redundant. The majority of the companies, however, remained in state hands.

In terms of foreign policy, the members of the NLC reduced their proximity to "communist" states and normalized contacts with the western world, especially with the former colonial power Great Britain . Contact was intensified and rapprochement was pursued with neighboring states that had opposed Nkrumah's policies, such as Togo, the Ivory Coast and Nigeria.

During the NLC government

Domestically, the NLC is accused of being jointly responsible for the Yendi massacre . This was a dispute over the succession to the throne in Yendi between rival clans in September 1969.

1967 counter-coup

On April 17, 1967, Lieutenant Samuel Arthur led a regiment from Ho , in the Volta Region, with the aim of overthrowing the NLC. In addition to Arthur, Lieutenant Moses Yeboah and Unterleutnant (Second Lt.) Emmanuel Ose-Poku were involved in the counter-coup.

The troop was divided into three parts, which turned against the Flaggstaff House, Osu Castle and against the media establishment. Yeboah and a member of the NLC Kotoka met at Flaggstaff House . In the course of the fight, Kotoka and 3 other officers fell victim to the attack. The counter-coup failed and resulted in the imprisonment or execution of those who survived the attack.

Formation of political initiatives

The new leadership of the country promised to quickly establish democratic conditions, but until the end of 1968 political parties were banned in the country. Nonetheless, at the instigation of some civilian individuals, interest groups were formed to prepare for a return to civil order.

By the time of the elections in August 1969, five political parties were formed from these movements. The members of the CPP from the former regime were excluded from the 1969 elections, as well as from public office for a period of ten years.

A democratization process was started under the NLC, which resulted in a constituent assembly and finally in the second republic.

End of the NLC

After allegations of corruption, the chairman of the NLC Ankrah had to relinquish power. Ankrah had admitted that she had received a large bribe.

General Afrifa took over the chairmanship of the NLC on April 2, 1969, who continued the already advanced program of democratization. In September 1969, the NLC gave way to the three-person Presidential Commission, whose President Afrifa also became. The presidential commission handed under Afrifa state power after the elections on August 29, 1969, Dr. Kofi Abrefa Busia.

See also

Web links

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  1. ↑ Ghana.gov Section 1.11.4, page 24, National Reconciliation Commission
  2. ^ Ghanaweb
  3. ^ Official government website Ghana.gov
  4. ^ Members of the NLC Ghana Without Nkrumah
  5. ↑ Ghana.gov Section 1.15.1.7 page 32, National Reconciliation Commission
  6. ↑ Ghana.gov Section 1.15.2.1, page 34, National Reconciliation Commission
  7. ↑ Ghana.gov Section 1.15.1.9 page 32, National Reconciliation Commission