“Nkrumah is a dictator, he established a one-party state, and so on are not the real reasons why he was overthrown,” these are the statements of veteran journalist and Pan Africanist Kwesi Pratt Jnr.

According to Kwesi Pratt, in September 1961, a former British High Commissioner to Ghana, AW Snelling, wrote to his government that Nkrumah had to be toppled because he was making Africans too politically conscious.

Kwesi Pratt, made these revelations in an interview with Kafui Dey aired on March 23, 2026.

“We are told that Nkrumah was overthrown because he was a dictator, because he had established a one-party state and so on. Forget that. The reason is provided for in a cable which was sent by the British High Commissioner in Accra in 1961 to his home government. The British High Commissioner’s name is AW Snelling.

“AW Snelling sent a cable to his home government, urging them to speed up the process of toppling Nkrumah. He said they had to get rid of Nkrumah because he was making the Africans too politically conscious. This was back on September 21, 1961,” he said.

Today In History: Ghana's first President Kwame Nkrumah overthrown in a coup d'état

The veteran journalist also indicated that he had the privilege of interviewing former IGP Anthony Deku, who was part of individuals who helped in planning the coup against Nkrumah.

He said he asked him what he thought about Nkrumah, and the former IGP described the first president in glowing terms.

“Nkrumah is one of the best leaders that Africa has had.”

Kwesi Pratt then said he asked Deku why he joined in overthrowing Nkrumah, and he explained that he had no real choice at the time.

According to Kwesi Pratt, the late officer said the people who planned the coup had reached a stage of desperation, and he was forced to make a difficult decision.

“He answers that if he hadn’t joined the conspiracy, he would have been killed. The people who were planning to overthrow Nkrumah were so vicious that they had reached the point of desperation. And when he was contacted, he had only two options. Staying alive and dying. And staying alive meant that he had to go along with the conspiracy,” Kwesi Pratt shared.

The veteran broadcaster further mentioned that he found out the person who was at the centre of Nkrumah’s overthrow was not Kotoka as many think.

Instead, he pointed to a military officer known as Major Quarshie, who worked at the 37 Military Hospital then.

According to him, many of the meetings connected to the plot were held at Quarshie’s residence.

“And one of the revelations that I found most interesting was that the person at the centre of the conspiracy to overthrow Nkrumah, at the centre of the CIA and Western intelligence plot, was not Kotoka. It was not Afrifa. It was a guy called Major Quarshie. Major Quarshie worked at the 37 Military Hospital. So all of the meetings of the conspirators were held in Major Quarshie’s house,” he noted.



AK/EB