On February 24, 1966, members of the National Liberation Council (NLC) overthrew the Government of Kwame Nkrumah in a military coup. Kwame Nkrumah was in Beijing, China, en route to Hanoi, at the time of the coup.
Key members of the NLC included Colonel Emmanuel K. Kotoka, Major Akwasi A. Afrifa, Lt. General Joseph A. Ankrah and Policy Inspector General John W.K. Harlley.
Soon after the coup, some suspected outside involvement, and Nkrumah himself blamed the CIA in his memoir Dark Days in Ghana. In 1978, former CIA officer John Stockwell alleged US involvement. Declassified US documents decades later confirmed that Washington monitored the plotters, anticipated the move, and welcomed the overthrow.
Interestingly, recently surfaced British intelligence files show a covert propaganda effort aimed at undermining NKrumah,
REFERENCES
ELMAAZI, MOHAMED. TOP SECRET DEPARTMENT EXPOSES UK ROLE IN GHANA COUP. DECLASSIFIED UK. MARCH 4, 2024
HERSH, SEYMOUR. CIA SAID TO HAVE AIDED PLOTTERS WHO OVERTHREW NKRUMAH IN GHANA. NEW YORK TIMES. MAY 9, 1978
NKRUMAH, KWAME. DARK DAYS IN GHANA. NEW YORK: INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHERS. 1968.
260. MEMORANDUM FROM THE PRESIDENT’S ACTING SPECIAL ASSISTANT FOR NATIONAL SECURITY AFFAIRS (KOMER) TO PRESIDENT JOHNSON. FOREIGN RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES, 1964–1968, VOLUME XXIV, AFRICA. MARCH 12, 1966. US DEPT OF STATE. OFFICE OF THE HISTORIAN.
257. MEMORANDUM FOR THE DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE (HELMS). FOREIGN RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES, 1964–1968, VOLUME XXIV, AFRICA. FEBRUARY 25, 1966. US DEPT OF STATE. OFFICE OF THE HISTORIAN.