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The man who claimed Instigated Kwame Nkrumah’s overthrow in 1966

In Ghana, when a leader is useless, you depose him.

The news of Kwame Nkrumah’s overthrow triggered wild celebrations across the country. These wild celebrations were marked by vandalising anything Nkrumah. Most of Nkrumah’s statues, including paraphernalia, were destroyed.

Ghanaian children standing on and around a vandalised statue of Kwame Nkrumah

When the news of Kwame Nkrumah’s overthrow reached London, many Ghanaians in London celebrated. One jubilant went to the extreme by visiting the Ghana Consular office and tearing the large portrait of Nkrumah into pieces.

Amidst these wild celebrations, one Daniel Ameyaw, a Ghanaian resident in London, immediately began to claim to be the brain behind the 1966 coup in Ghana.

A picture of Daniel Ameyaw in an interview in London

Daniel Ameyaw was then granted numerous interviews and published in major British newspapers in London. He claimed a group called Revolution Council orchestrated the coup from a flat in West Kensington, London. He revealed that they (Revolution Council) gave the instigators of the coup in Ghana instructions to carry out the coup.

Daniel Ameyaw immediately flew to Ghana to join the celebration. In Ghana, he was met at the airport by police officers and chauffeured to a conference call with the National Liberation Council (NLC) leadership at the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation. This welcome was not what he expected. Before his arrival, the NLC had labelled him a charlatan and criminal. They believed he was taking advantage of the situation for self-aggrandisation.

The NLC, infuriated by Daniel Ameyaw’s actions, made their first news conference call after the coup. For which the leaders of the coup were introduced. The NLC, with General Joseph Arthur Ankrah as its chairman, dispelled Ameyaw’s involvement in the coup.

The NLC leadership further established that the coup was undertaken because of Kwame Nkrumah’s poor administration of the country, especially his “tyrany and nepotism.” They succinctly stated, “In Ghana, when a leader is useless, you depose him.”

Ameyaw was present at the conference. General J.A. Ankrah then introduced D. Ameyaw and asked him to stand on a chair in the conference room.

Daniel Ameyaw standing on a chair at the NLC conference call

The NLC then introduced him and instructed him to tell Ghanaians how he orchestrated the coup and who he knew on the NLC. He couldn’t respond to any of these questions and was utterly disgraced.

The public disgrace of Daniel Ameyaw was undertaken to show that external forces did not influence any of the coup leaders. However, this proved to be false over time.

Unfortunately, less was heard of Daniel Ameyaw and what became of him after such gross embarrassment.

Sources:

Getty images, Ghana Musuem

Written By

Stephen Baidoo is a writer who loves to research about Ghana's past. He brings Ghana's history to life with each unearthed fact and forgotten narrative, transforming dry dates into passionate stories.

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