History: January 13 et al

It was Monday, January 13, 2025.

As I did my walk early in the morning, somehow my mind went into history mode, expecting to hear the mention of the 53rd anniversary of Gen. I.K. Acheampong’s coup, which overthrew the government of Dr Busia in 1972.

Later that evening, no TV station I tuned into, made mention of the event. Two friends I chatted with that evening made similar observations. Indeed, one stated, “We do not care about our history, so we are condemned to repeat the same mistakes.”

For the benefit of the younger generation, my article in 2024 titled: “Another January (13) passeth-by” provides a ready-reckoner stating:

On Saturday, 13th January 2024, another January 13 slipped by quietly. For anyone born on that day in 1972, it was the 52nd anniversary of then Lt Col (later Gen) I.K. Acheampong’s overthrow of Ghana’s Second Republic led by Prime Minister Dr K.A. Busia.    

While some Ghanaians opine that the day does not deserve remembering, as it was a coup by the military against a constitutionally elected government. The day cannot also be wished away and erased from Ghana’s history.

This is because, given the fallible nature of the human being, no nation can catalogue only good deeds as constituting its history.

Life’s reality is that every country’s history is a mixture of “the good, the bad and the ugly!” Mistakes must be acknowledged and corrected.

Prof. Baffour Agyeman-Duah has written a book on General I.K. Acheampong (2023) titled “General Acheampong: The Life and Times of Ghana’s Head of State.”

13th January?

Like the Ides (15th) of March (44 BC) in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, January 13 is significant. Why? On January 13, 1963, West Africa’s first coup d’état took place in Togo.

On that day, President Sylvanus Olympio was overthrown and killed by Sgt Eyadema, leading a group of colonial Togolese soldiers demobilised by France after service in French Indo-China. Eyadema subsequently made himself the Head of State.

In Ghana, on January 13, 1972, the government of Prime Minister Dr Busia was overthrown by then Lt Col I.K. Acheampong. This was not Ghana’s first coup d’etat though.

It started on February 24, 1966, when then Colonel EK Kotoka (later Lt Gen), Commander 2-Infantry-Brigade-Group in the northern sector of Ghana, and his Brigade Major, Major AA Afrifa (later Lt Gen), supported by Police Commissioners Harlley and Deku, overthrew the government of President Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah.

The bloody coup saw the killing of the Army Commander, Maj. Gen. CM Barwah. Lt Gen. J.A. Ankrah (Rtd) became the Head of State afterwards.

President Nkrumah, who was then on his way to Vietnam, ostensibly to broker peace for the Vietnam War, was left stranded. Eventually, President Sekou Toure of Guinea made Osagyefo co-president of Guinea until he died in Romania on April 27, 1972, aged 62.

On April 17, 1967, the 2 Recce (Reconnaissance) Squadron, Ho, staged an unsuccessful countercoup named Operation Guitar-Boy, against the military junta.

The three young officers who led the coup were Lt S.B. Arthur, Lt Moses Yeboah and 2/Lt Osei-Poku. Arthur and Yeboah were executed by a firing squad while Osei-Poku was jailed for thirty years.

Incidentally, like Gen. Barwah in the first coup, Gen Kotoka was killed in the abortive coup.

1979-1992

Apart from the period between September 24, 1979, and December 31, 1981, when Dr Hilla Limann served as President in the Third Republic, the rest of the period from 1979-1992 was dominated by Flt Lt Rawlings, the bloodiest in Ghana’s history.

Significant events include the execution of the generals, the killing of the judges and the disappearance of an estimated 150 Ghanaians.

Executed generals in June 1979 included three former heads of state, Gen. I.K. Akyeampong, Lt Gen. F.W.K. Akuffo and Lt Gen. A.A. Afrifa.

The rest were a former Army Commander, Ma.j Gen. R.E.A. Kotei, Navy Commander Rear-Admiral Joy Amedume, Air-Force Commander Air-Vice-Marshal G.Y. Boakye and the Border Guards Commander Gen. E.K. Utuka.

Maj Gen NA Odartey-Wellington, the Army Commander was killed in action while opposing the 4 June 1979 insurrection. Colonel Roger Felli, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, was executed with the generals.

On June 30, 1982, three judges and a retired major were abducted from their homes.

Their charred bodies were found at the Bundase Military Range outside Accra.

They were Justice Cecilia Koranteng-Addo, Justice K.A. Agyapong, Justice F.P. Sarkodie and Major Sam Acquah (Rtd). 

Discussion

The question of the military’s engagement in politics has been extensively discussed in academia. Harvard Professor Samuel Huntington and University of Michigan

Professor Morris Janowitz have written profusely on the subject. As is the case with most subjects in academics, opinion is divided.

Some argue that the military as an institution of discipline does not stage coups. It is individuals within the Military who stage coups.

However, Pakistan and Myanmar (Burma) are cited as examples of countries where the military top hierarchy has led coups and governed.

Others opine that for developing third-world countries, a strong visionary military hand of discipline is needed for direction.

In 1970, a new theory called the Schneider Doctrine came into being.

Summary

While coming in through a coup may not make Gen. Acheampong a darling boy of democracy, one cannot deny his contributions to national development.

Some are the Kpong Dam, Dansoman Estates, El Wak Stadium, accommodation for the Armed Forces, Dawhenya Irrigation Scheme and above all “Operation Feed Yourself”, which immensely enhanced Ghana’s food security.

While academics have been divided on the propriety of coups against democratically elected governments, hindsight has been the better teacher.

Did Rawlings’ 1979/1981 coups stop corruption in Ghana after all the bloodshed?

Sadly, when military rule is lambasted, Ghanaians conveniently forget prominent civilians who contributed immensely to the bloodshed in 1979/1981!

For Ghana, we have seen it all, and we should know better. At age sixty-seven on March 6, 2024, all we want is peace, not multidimensional corruption continued.

That way, Ghana can develop the way Malaysia, which gained independence in 1957 like Ghana, has done.

Comment

After amusing himself with answers by his students to his question, “What do we learn from History”, the Professor answered it for them.

“What we learn from History is that human beings never learn from history, and that is why history repeats itself.” 

Can we prove the venerable professor wrong? Let us reset “galamsey,” DDEP, arrogance, corruption and indiscipline.

History must come back as a stand-alone subject and not as part of subjects put together.

Leadership, lead by example! Fellow Ghanaians, wake up!

Former CEO, African Peace Support Trainers Association,
Nairobi, Kenya/Council Chairman, Family Health University,
Accra.                        
E-mail: dkfrimpong@yahoo.com