Dr Kwame Nkrumah (L) when Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai (L) told him he had been removed from power
At Ghana’s 68th Independence Anniversary durbar at the Jubilee House, President John Dramani Mahama recently announced that declassified United States intelligence showed that America’s CIA orchestrated the overthrow of the country’s first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah.
Details of the events that transpired on 24 February 1966, when Dr Nkrumah was overthrown, disclosed that he was on his way to China when a joint military and police coup d’état masterminded by the Americans led to his removal.
The details of the sequence of events, shared by Ask Ghana Media on X, indicated that while Ghana’s first president was unaware that he had been removed, his Chinese counterpart, Premier Zhou Enlai, was aware and was contemplating how to break the news to him.
After Nkrumah arrived at the Beijing Airport, the then-Chinese premier received him warmly and took him to the state guesthouse.
Upon reaching the guesthouse, Zhou Enlai secretly showed Dr Nkrumah a report of the coup, but he (Nkrumah) could not believe his eyes.
“At Beijing Airport, Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai braved the cold wind, awaiting the arrival of Ghana’s First President, Kwame Nkrumah. Unbeknownst to Nkrumah, Enlai had already received news of the coup in Ghana. Enlai was not only concerned about how to break the news to his guest but also how to navigate this delicate diplomatic problem.
“When Nkrumah’s plane finally landed in Beijing, he was warmly received by Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai, who escorted him to the state guesthouse. In the reception room, Zhou Enlai discreetly informed Nkrumah of the shocking news: a coup had taken place in Ghana. He showed Nkrumah a message from a foreign news agency. Initially, Nkrumah struggled to accept this reality,” part of the post reads.
As Dr Nkrumah began reading the report, the reality sank in, and his silence and expression showed his disappointment.
“However, as he read the message, the truth slowly sank in. Overwhelmed, he bowed his head… trembling, yet remarkably composed.”
After hearing the news of the coup, the majority of the government officials who accompanied Dr Kwame Nkrumah to China, including the then Foreign Affairs Minister, Alex Quaison-Sackey, deserted him, fearing the consequences of associating with him.
Quaison-Sackey, whom Nkrumah sent to protest his removal at a meeting of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), now African Union (AU), in Addis Ababa, Kenya, flew instead to Accra, where he pledged his loyalty to the new military government.
It was the then President of Guinea, Sekou Touré, who came to Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s rescue, offering him political asylum and co-presidency.
Ghana’s first president lived in Guinea till his demise in 1972.
See the posts below:
2/13
When Nkrumah’s plane finally landed in Beijing, he was warmly received by Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai, who escorted him to the state guesthouse. In the reception room, Zhou Enlai discreetly informed Nkrumah of the shocking news: a coup had taken place in Ghana. He showed… pic.twitter.com/BgAiVwWuWH
— 𝐀𝐒𝐊 (@askghmedia) May 16, 2025
4/13
The coup itself was welcomed in Ghana with far more enthusiasm than had been the case for independence. Only the Presidential Guard put up a brief resistance, and within 24 hours the coup was over. Nkrumah’s statue outside Parliament House, which proclaimed him the founder… pic.twitter.com/48K4QwqavF
— 𝐀𝐒𝐊 (@askghmedia) May 16, 2025
6/13
Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s influence extended even to Guinea’s currency, with his image appearing on the Guinean syli note and coin, specifically the 5-Sylis note and 1000 Sylis coin, between 1971 and 1985. pic.twitter.com/x6Hoi4tsD1
— 𝐀𝐒𝐊 (@askghmedia) May 16, 2025
8/13
A dispute arose between President Sékou Touré of Guinea and Colonel Ignatius Acheampong, the leader of Ghana’s military government, which had seized power in another coup in January 1972.
While Touré, who had granted Nkrumah political asylum, wanted to bury him in Guinea,… pic.twitter.com/PiyEwRXrM9
— 𝐀𝐒𝐊 (@askghmedia) May 16, 2025
10/13
Sékou Touré refused to release Kwame Nkrumah’s body until the Ghanaian government agreed to certain conditions. Since the Romanians had sent the body to Guinea, Touré was in a strong position to dictate his terms. The conditions were as follows:
1) Rehabilitation and… pic.twitter.com/mc9KmKMyI1
— 𝐀𝐒𝐊 (@askghmedia) May 16, 2025
12/13
As the quarrel drew attention from the international press, African leaders intervened to persuade Sékou Touré to release Kwame Nkrumah’s body. Presidents William Tolbert of Liberia, Siaka Stevens of Sierra Leone, and General Yakubu Gowon of Nigeria urged Touré to return… pic.twitter.com/e1g1B3vfeL
— 𝐀𝐒𝐊 (@askghmedia) May 16, 2025
13/13
The third and final burial of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah at the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park in Accra on Wednesday, July 1, 1992. pic.twitter.com/P9v5woEJxQ
— 𝐀𝐒𝐊 (@askghmedia) May 16, 2025
BAI/MA
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