Lieutenant General Akwasi Amankwaa Afrifa was a Ghanaian military officer and Head of State who co-led the 1966 coup that overthrew President Kwame Nkrumah. He served as Chairman of the National Liberation Council from 1969 to 1969 and briefly as Head of State during Ghana's Second Republic transition. He was executed in 1979 following the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council uprising.
Lieutenant General Akwasi Amankwaa Afrifa (1936-1979) was a pivotal military figure in Ghana's post-independence history who co-led the 1966 coup d'état that overthrew President Kwame Nkrumah. He served as Chairman of the National Liberation Council and briefly as Head of State during the transition to the Second Republic in 1969. His career ended tragically when he was executed in 1979 during the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council uprising led by Jerry John Rawlings.
Born in Mampong, Ashanti Region, Afrifa rose through military ranks after training at Sandhurst Royal Military Academy in the United Kingdom. He became one of the key architects of the 1966 coup alongside Colonel E.K. Kotoka, which ended Nkrumah's Convention People's Party rule and established military governance under the National Liberation Council. After returning power to civilian government in 1969, he remained influential in Ghanaian politics until the 1979 revolutionary tribunals found him guilty of corruption and ordered his execution by firing squad.
As a historical figure rather than a physical location, Gen. Afrifa's legacy can be explored through Ghana's national archives, the Military Museum in Kumasi, and historical exhibitions at institutions like the National Museum in Accra. His hometown of Mampong in the Ashanti Region contains family connections and local historical memory. Researchers can access documentation about his era at the Public Records and Archives Administration Department in Accra.
Gen. Afrifa personally wrote and published a detailed justification of the 1966 coup in his book 'The Ghana Coup: 24th February 1966', making him one of the few coup leaders in African history to author a comprehensive defense of overthrowing an elected government.
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