Sankofa Series: From £200m in reserves to over £250m debt – Dr. Busia shares ills after Nkrumah's regime

During an interview with the British press at the Offices of the Ghana High Commission in London, former Prime Minister Dr. Kofi Abrefa Busia recounted the magnitude of the economic crisis that Ghana faced.

Dr Busia, who assumed office in 1969, accused the Kwame Nkrumah regime of economic mismanagement, which saw inflation at around 117 per cent, unemployment at an all-time high, and food shortages, among others.

According to Dr. Busia, Ghana was in a strong reserve position at independence [1957] with more than £200 million in reserves, but at the end of the Nkrumah's regime in February 1966, the country was saddled with a debt totalling over £250 million.

He made this known when he was asked about the economic problem his [Busia] government was faced with while speaking with the British press in London in the 1970s.

“Take first the economic problem, at independence, we had more than £200 million in reserves, and at the time of the coup and end of Nkrumah’s regime, we had debt totalling over £250 million and in fact, we do not yet know exactly how much we [Ghana] is owing because they are certain agreements signed and we’ve not been able to collect all the facts and figures about these,” he explained.

Touching on other sectors of the economy which had been faced with challenges, Dr. Busia added, “Then also we have shortage of food, essential goods, and items…then everywhere on the political level, we have to deal with the fact that democratic rule was completely shattered by Nkrumah.”

Meanwhile, Dr. Busia was overthrown in a ‘bloodless’ military coup led by Colonel Ignatius Kutu Acheampong on January 13, 1972.

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This article was first published by GhanaWeb on 13 August 2023, but has been republished in commemoration of the 2024 Ghana Month celebrations

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