Former president John Dramani Mahama has accused adherents of the Danquah-Busia tradition of orchestrating the overthrow of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president.
He said that the Danquah-Busia tradition, out of which the New Patriotic Party emerged, collaborated with foreign operatives to oust Nkrumah in 1966.
According to Mr. Mahama, the revolt ruined Nkrumah’s vision for Ghana and the whole of Africa.
In a Facebook post on Friday, the former president made these comments as he remembered the 57th anniversary of the coup in 1966.
“57 years ago today, 24th February 1966, the Danquah-Busia political tradition conspired with external intelligence agencies to initiate Ghana’s first coup d’etat, which toppled the government of our first President, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.
“This coup was achieved through a conscious and constant campaign of falsehood and calumny”, portions of Mahama’s post read.
He added that, “As a former President of Ghana who has also been at the receiving end of the Danquah-Busia tradition’s campaign of slander and sabotage, I can empathise completely with the quandary President Nkrumah found himself in”.
Mahama went on to say that “In 1966, I was a young boy still in primary school. But I remember highlights of the dark days that followed the February 24, 1966 coup”.
The former President used the occasion to urge Ghanaians to remain loyal to the country’s democratic path.
He also seized the opportunity to entreat African leaders to remain true to the tenets of democratic governance.
“As today marks 57 years of that coup d’etat, I call on all fellow Ghanaians and our patriotic security agencies and armed forces to mark this day as one of reflection and to remain loyal to the 1992 Constitution as we begin the task of rescuing our dear nation from the dark pit the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has plunged us into.
I further urge all Africans to give meaningful democracy a chance, the very reason for which I am presently here in Nigeria as Head of the West African Elders Forum on an election mediation mission, as the country votes on Saturday” the statement concluded.
On the matter, members of the Danquah-Busia tradition have consistently refuted the claims that they played a central role in Ghana’s first coup d’état.
Repeatedly, they have stressed that such assertions are false and should not be associated with the late Dr.J.B Danquah or the late Dr Kofi Abrefa Busia.
In one of such rebuttals a few years ago, the then Director of the Danquah-Busia Institute, Gabby Otchere-Darko took offense when a former Communication Minister, Dr Omane Boamah made that allegation on JoyNews.