Alex Quaison-Sackey joined NLC after Dr Kwame Nkrumah was overthrown from government
Alex Quaison-Sackey, Ghana’s former foreign minister, switched his allegiance from former President Kwame Nkrumah to the National Liberation Council (NLC) government following Nkrumah’s overthrow on February 24, 1966.
At the time, Quaison-Sackey was serving in Nkrumah’s government and had been assigned to attend the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. However, he made a U-turn after learning of the coup.
Upon realising that other government officials had been detained, the foreign minister quickly pledged allegiance to the military-police junta in order to continue serving.
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While declaring his loyalty to the NLC, he stated that since his government had been overthrown, he was willing to cooperate with the new administration.
“I made up my mind that I would come back home to submit myself to the new government — that since I had been dismissed, and since all ministers had been detained, and since I was a minister, I had to come back and make my position known to the new government.
“And if I may say so, once I arrived in Accra, there was a fresh whiff of air blowing in Ghana. There was no doubt that there had been pent-up feelings among the population for a number of years,” he said.
Meanwhile, in his writings, Dr Nkrumah accused Quaison-Sackey of betraying him at a crucial moment in his administration and claimed the diplomat had not been utilised as fully as expected.
The move marked a significant moment in Ghana’s political history, as several of Nkrumah’s appointees failed to rally behind him when the coup began.
Watch the video below:
Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Alex Quaison-Sackey, pledging his allegiance to the National Liberation Council (NLC), the military-police junta that overthrew Kwame Nkrumah on February 24, 1966, while he was abroad on a peace mission.
President Nkrumah… pic.twitter.com/4lH04ESbtD
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Source:
www.ghanaweb.com