Footage of the first press conference held by senior members of Ghana’s National Liberation Council (NLC) after the overthrow of President Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah has resurfaced, showing then NLC leader Lieutenant General Joseph A Ankrah rejecting claims that foreign powers helped organise the coup.

The military and police overthrew Dr Nkrumah on February 24, 1966, while he was on a state visit to Vietnam and China.

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

At the first conference after the coup, Gen Ankrah sought to dismiss reports that the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) or British intelligence had played a role in the overthrow.

He specifically brought before the journalists Daniel Amihyia, a former security chief of Dr Nkrumah who had fallen out with the government and gone into exile in Britain.

Amihyia had claimed in a British television interview that he was the mastermind behind the coup and had organised it from a flat in West Kensington, London.

Gen Ankrah said Amihyia’s appearance was intended to show that the NLC had not been controlled or directed by any foreign power.

“We have called you here this morning for one specific reason, and that is you've heard the name of one Amihyia who has associated himself with this school and has published himself in the British papers and most of the papers; that is the brain behind us,” he said at the press conference.

He insisted that the coup was planned by Ghanaians without assistance from outside the country.

“And we want to prove that we were not instigated by anybody, neither we want to refute any allegation that CIA or God knows what instigated us to carry out the coup,” Gen Ankrah said.

He pointed to the absence of a curfew and what he described as the spontaneous reaction to the coup as evidence that no foreign power had directed the operation.

“You would have seen when you were coming, probably thinking that Ghana would have been put under curfew or all other things, but nothing was done. There was no brain behind it, it was work from us and from within, without the aid of anybody, any foreign country or any country,” he stated.

Gen Ankrah also justified the removal of Dr Nkrumah by accusing his government of tyranny.

“It has been some of these things within Ghana that when a ruler is useless, you depose him, and therefore we have deposed Kwame Nkrumah. We don't want tyranny or anything here,” he added.

Gen Ankrah then introduced Amihyia to the journalists and challenged him to explain how he had allegedly masterminded the coup from Britain. He said he had never met Amihyia before the press conference.

“And therefore, I would like to not waste time to bring in Amihyia here for you to see him and you can see that he doesn't even know I don't know him. I haven't seen him before, neither has any of us,” he indicated.

Gen Ankrah also accused Amihyia of being a wanted criminal in Ghana.

“The only thing that we know of him since he started claiming himself was that the COP found in his records that he's a criminal who is wanted in Ghana,” he indicated.

Turning to Amihyia, Gen Ankrah asked him to explain his alleged role in the coup.

“Well, this is Mr Amihyia; he calls himself Amihyia or whatever. His name is never spelled correct either and we would like him to tell you how he organized this coup and how he was the brain behind it and who he knew on this,” he said.

Amihyia, in response, began by referring to the announcement of the coup in Britain.

“First and foremost, on the 24th morning 8 o'clock news announced in London that Ghana has announced that jointly the army and the police have overthrown the regime of the tyrant Kwame Nkrumah,” he explained.

Gen Ankrah then challenged Amihyia to explain whether he had given any instructions to the officers involved in the operation.

“Did you come to brainwash me, Kotoka, the police, or somebody and tell us how to conduct this, or did you try to tell us where we should, how we should organize our army or the operations to be carried out?” Gen Ankrah asked.

The coup of February 24th 1966 was led by Colonel Emmanuel Kotoka, who was introduced at the conference by Lt General Ankrah as a major general. Kotoka was aided by Major Akwasi Afrifa and Colonel Kwesi Ocran. Two police chiefs, John Harrley and Bawa Yakubu, were also involved, and all became members of the NLC.

The exchange came at a time when the new military government was facing questions over the circumstances surrounding Dr Nkrumah’s removal from office.

All about the key events that took place before Nkrumah's overthrow in 1966

Although Gen Ankrah publicly rejected claims of foreign involvement, later historical accounts and declassified records have linked the CIA station in Accra to activities surrounding the overthrow of Dr Nkrumah.

The NLC subsequently took control of Ghana and ruled the country until 1969.



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