GHANA: COLONEL ACHEAMPONG, LEADER IN ACCRA COUP, MAKES PUBLIC STATEMENT ON AIMS OF NATIONAL REDEMPTION COUNCIL

Record ID: 588577

  • Title: GHANA: COLONEL ACHEAMPONG, LEADER IN ACCRA COUP, MAKES PUBLIC STATEMENT ON AIMS OF NATIONAL REDEMPTION COUNCIL
  • Date: 19th January 1972
  • Summary: 1. GV EXT. Burma Camp 0.05 2. MV INT. Col. Acheampong with Council members 0.16 3. MV Pressmen in conference room 0.18 4. SCU Acheampong speaking 1.25 5. MV Pressmen 1.28 6. MV & CU Council members seated (3 shots) 1.34 7. MV Acheampong speaking 2.16 ACHEAMPONG: The Government is a military government, which will rule with advice from certain eminent civilians in the country. I would like to emphasis immediately that this coup was not initiated by the armed forces merely to satisfy our selfish ends. And I said in my earlier broadcast, the takeover was occasioned principally by the hypocrisy of the Busia regime, coupled with the inefficient management by that regime of our economy. The malpractices which existed before the 1966 coup are still with us. And there was no prospect of seeing an end of them. Matters got steadily worse, especially in the economic field, and it became obvious that the Busia Government had no clue as to how to arrest the position. In simple terms, we are almost like a nation at war, without an external enemy. The National Redemption Council have therefore decided to place the economy of Ghana on a war footing. We are soldiers, who know our way of dealing with crisis situations, and that is action. I want to assure the nation that we shall aspire, we shall spare no effort and no sacrifice will be too great for us, in this gigantic fact of winning a great economic war. Initials SGM/1253 SGM/1233 Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 3rd February 1972 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Accra, Ghana
  • Country: Ghana
  • Reuters ID: LVA1MOKZDZGH3WQX7M2V6Q22TOS9
  • Story Text: Colonel I.K. Acheampong, leader of the military coup that toppled the civilian government of Dr Kofi Busia, said on Monday that the new National Redemption Council would hand over to a democratically-elected government as soon as possible.

    Colonel Acheampong (pronounced A-tcham-pong) was addressing a press conference called at Burma Camp, the Defence Ministry Headquarters in Accra. With him were members of the ten-man National Redemption Council he heads. The Council consists of seven army officers and one each from the navy, air force and police.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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