Dr Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe, a founding member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has opened up on how he along with some other military officers planned to overthrow the government of Ignatius Kutu Acheampong.
He revealed how he was recruited shortly after returning from a mission to Middle East to be part of the plan to overthrow the then government but their plan failed even before it was executed.
He explained he was convinced to join the plot by a promise of the initiator, Col George Minyila, that they will run the government for a short period after the coup
“Discussions were going on, we’ve been attending meetings with the aim of overthrowing Acheampong but one thing he said that even got me more interested in war was that, with the removal of Acheampong, our stay as a government will be very brief and quickly bring in a civilian government. This is what he said at that time.”
According to him, their plan was sabotaged by a mole amongst them who sent information to the government.
“While we were preparing for the coup de’tat, there have been series of meetings. I think he (Col Minyila) got somebody also in…. who unfortunately blew our cover and he was still attending meetings but nobody suspected him.”
Speaking in an interview with Citi FM’s TV show ‘Footprints’, Dr Tamakloe said a day before the they were supposed to implement their plans, he and some of his colleagues were arrested and ended up spending two years in prison.
“The night before the D-day, we had a last meeting somewhere in Kaneshie. Just when I got back home, a car drove in, I came down to my wife’s parent’s house, at Roman Ridge that was where I was arrested. When I was arrested and taken straight to one of their detention places almost opposite the military hospital. I knew what I had done so I wasn’t really bothered at all. By then time I had no idea that there had been a mole also, later we got to know.”
Ignatius Kutu Acheampong was however later deposed in a coup by one of his closest aid who was Chief of Defence Staff, Lt. General Fred Akuffo and executed by firing squad.
Kutu Acheampong was a military head of state of Ghana who ruled from 13 January 1972 to 5 July 1978.
