My mistake which contributed to 1972 coup – Kufuor confesses

Former President John Agyekum Kufuor has revealed how the actions he failed to take as a member of the Busia government resulted in their overthrow few days after Christmas in 1972.

“I think the things that contributed or made it easy for the coup makers to succeed, was that, perhaps, we were not critical enough,” President Kufuor who served as a Deputy Minister in the Busia administration recalled.

Recollecting events of the past during a courtesy call on him by members of the Kufuor Scholarship Foundation, he said: “We were not outspoken, we deferred too much to leadership because 27th December, just two days after Christmas, people had not even come back from the Christmas enjoyment [and] we were summoned to the castle to tell us we were going to devalue the currency of our country.”

“How much devaluation? 44 per cent and what happened, within just two weeks after? That is history now. So, that would be the mistake that I own up to. I was one of the people who just didn’t speak up,” he recalled the events that terminated the Second Republic.

With the Busia government tossed out of power, the military took to the arrest and detention of members of the administration and Mr Kufuor then a 34-year old was one of those detained.

“I was picked up like a rabbit and put into detention. I stayed in Ussher Fort prison for one year [and] three months”.

Ex-President Kufuor who admonished the members of the foundation to be vocal on national issues admitted that his silence at the time did not help the Progress Party (PP) government.

Mr Kufuor served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Atwima Nwabiagya and also as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs during the era of the PP toppled by the National Redemption Council (NRC).

The chairman of the NRC was Colonel I. K. Acheampong. Busia’s administration was kicked out for reasons which included the uneven distribution of investment funds and favouritism towards certain groups and regions. Developmental priorities and economical challenges were also rife during the period.

The administration was also infamous for the Aliens Compliance Order which sent thousands of Africans including Nigerians out of Ghana.

Mr Kufour later served as Secretary for Local Government under the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) era.

He won the presidential election of December 2000 on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and formed the National Reconciliation Commission to bring healing and closure to victims who had suffered different forms of human rights abuses and violations during the coups of 1966, 1972, 1979 and 1981.

He says the objective was achieved even though compensation could not be paid to every victim.