Ghanaian President John Mahama has claimed that declassified U.S. government documents confirm the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) played a key role in the 1966 coup that ousted Ghana’s first president, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.
Mahama made this statement during Ghana’s 68th Independence Day celebrations in Accra. He described the February 24, 1966, coup as “the most regrettable and darkest moment in our nation’s history.“
Mahama said that newly available U.S. records reveal the CIA orchestrated the coup that removed Nkrumah from power.
“Declassified documents from the United States archives reveal that this was a coup inspired and engineered by the CIA,” Mahama stated. “It shattered Nkrumah’s vision of an industrialized and self-reliant Ghana and significantly delayed our attainment of the objectives of nationhood.”
Nkrumah, who led Ghana to independence from British rule in 1957, was an outspoken advocate of Pan-Africanism and economic self-sufficiency.
He sought to reduce Ghana’s dependence on Western nations and promoted large-scale industrialization. However, his socialist-leaning policies and close ties with the Soviet Union and China made him a target of Western opposition.
Historians have long suspected U.S. involvement in Nkrumah’s ousting, but Mahama’s statement points to direct evidence in recently released documents. The coup, carried out by Ghanaian military officers, led to years of political instability and economic hardship.
He later died in exile in Bucharest, the capital of Romania, on 27 April 1972, of an unknown but apparently incurable sickness. Since the coup, he had been living in the Guinean capital of Conakry, lying low.
Call for Reflection on Ghana’s Future
In his speech, Mahama reflected on Ghana’s political journey since the coup. He urged citizens to uphold democracy, ensure accountability, and protect national sovereignty.
“We must remind ourselves that democracy is not just about voting—it is about accountability, safeguarding freedoms, and ensuring socioeconomic prosperity,” he said.
He also encouraged Ghanaians to assess the country’s governance, economic growth, natural resource management, and national security.
He stressed the importance of balancing economic development with sustainability in an era of climate change.
Mahama’s comments again authenticates long held suspicions of influence of foreign powers in Africa’s political affairs, and how these external interference could have shaped the rate of the continents progress over the decades.
More declassified documents could shed light on other horrific events of the immediate post-colonial Africa.
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