Ghana, 1972 — dissident coup conspiracy
Event Summary
This entry is coded 15 January 1972, corresponding to the bloodless military coup led by Colonel Ignatius Kutu Acheampong that overthrew the elected Progress Party government of Prime Minister Kofi Abrefa Busia and President Edward Akufo-Addo, ending Ghana's Second Republic. Acheampong, commander of the First Infantry Brigade at Accra, struck on 13 January 1972 while Busia was in London for medical treatment, deploying troops at key points, playing martial music on the radio, and announcing that the armed forces had taken over. He suspended the 1969 constitution, dissolved parliament, banned political parties, and established the National Redemption Council.
The coup was driven by army grievances over Busia's austerity, including a roughly 44 percent devaluation of the cedi in December 1971 and cuts to military amenities; the NRC's first acts restored officers' allowances and reduced official rents. The coding sits within this second successful Ghanaian coup.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Sources
Editorial Note
Cross-Reference
Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
- Cline Center id
45201151972
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Busia's government was overthrown; Acheampong ruled through the NRC and later the Supreme Military Council until 1978.
Baseline coding: Plot discovered and disrupted before execution. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Baseline Source-Document Entries
Luttwak
LA Times
Baltimore Sun
This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →