Viewing page 11 of 100

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

WHAT HAPPENED IN GHANA?
THE INSIDE STORY

SHIRLEY GRAHAM DU BOIS

IT WOULD BE INACCURATE to designate what happened in Ghana the last week in February 1966, as a coup d'état. None of the elements for this classic type of counter-revolution existed in Ghana. There was no revolution going on, no crumbling away of Government; the people were not groaning under the heel of tyranny and oppression and no Strong Man emerged from the Army bringing order and tranquility to a torn country. Far from it!

These are the proclaimed justifications for the historic coup d'état. But the coup of our decade is something quite different. Under the manipulation of imperialists and neo-colonialists it has been employed as the surest and most effective offensive against the freedom and independence of emerging peoples. In Latin America, in the Middle East, in Asia and now in Africa, the coup has operated successfully. For the moment the exploiters of Africa are breathing easier; they see the threat of African unity and ultimate strength receding. They have brought down Ghana! They think they have eliminated that world-wide symbol of African unity-Kwame Nkrumah!

Men of goodwill everywhere were shocked and bewildered. How could this happen to Ghana? Why? Where was the opposition? Visitors coming to Ghana for the past several years have been amazed by the evidence of progress which greeted them on every hand: the wide, well-paved roads transversing the country; the hospitals, free schools, housing developments, technical training colleges; the new industrial city of Tema with its busy, modern harbor and rising factories; the straight-legged village children, free from diseases and scourges seen in so many parts of Africa and Asia; the beauty of Accra's planned construction. They often remarked on the apparent eagerness with which the masses followed obviously exacting and determined leadership. How then could such a take-over come about in Ghana?

As clearly and objectively as possible I shall attempt to give some answers to these questions. I shall lay bare the structure of Ghana

201

Transcription Notes:
---------- Reopened for Editing 2024-02-09 07:24:31 Some of an image from previous page is seen top left. ---------- Reopened for Editing 2024-02-09 07:54:34 ---------- Reopened for Editing 2024-02-09 09:25:23 ---------- Reopened for Editing 2024-02-09 10:25:11