Showing papers in "Australian Journal of International Affairs in 1971"

Ghana's second republic

Abstract: GHANA'S OFFICIALDOM celebrated the second anniversary of the Second Republic in October 1971. The Prime Minister, Dr Kofi Busia, opened an exhibition highlighting the achievements of the Progress Party government. The President, Sir Edward Akufo-Addo, reviewed the troops and told them: 'As a disciplined force you are equipped with skilled manpower and expertise to provide services which can support the civilian administration." On 13 January 1972 Colonel Ignatius Acheampong, commander of the First Infantry Brigade Group, sent an officer to convey greetings to the President and explain to him why the army had that day not only withdrawn its support from the civilian administration but had overthrown it, in the process abolishing the office of President. Sir Edward did not receive the message; he had already departed the presidential lodge for his home town. Ghana's second military coup followed a characteristic African pattern. It took place early in the morning, early in a new year, and at a time when the Prime Minister was absent from the country. It was bloodless; the simultaneous toppling of constitution, government, parliament and parties was accomplished by a few strategic detentions and the deployment of soldiers at major buildings. There was no discernible public protest. The market mammies, those volatile interpreters and moulders of public opinion, jubilated; so by and large, did the press. The only notable resistance came from Lieutenant-General A. A. Afrifa, the Leader of the National Liberation Council which had paved the way to civilian rule in 1969. He was found in Dr Busia's house two days after the coup, and was arrested for allegedly plotting to restore him to power. The stated motives, too, had a familiar flavour. What to Dr Busia was an 'officers' amenities coup', carried out in self-interest by 'the highest paid group in public service in Ghana',2 was to the new regime an act of national salvation. From the copious indictments issued by Colonial Acheampong and echoed by the press, three particular themes may be distilled. First, the Progress Party regime had been guilty of extreme economic mismanagement so that by the end of its truncated term of office the problems of inflation and overseas David Goldsworthy is Senior Lecturer in Politics at Monash University, Victoria, Australia. He is author of Colonial Issues in British Politics, 1945-1961. 1. West Africa, 15 October 1971, p. 1217. 2. Dr Busia's London press conference, reported in The Times, 22 January 1972. 8

Indonesia in the 1980s

Abstract: (1971). Indonesia in the 1980s. Australian Outlook: Vol. 25, Asia and the Pacific in the 1980s, pp. 334-344.