On January 13, 1972, army officers led by Colonel Ignatius Kutu Acheampong seized power in Accra, ousting Prime Minister Kofi Busia's elected government. The coup, executed while Busia was receiving medical care in London, ushered in years of military rule in Ghana.
Kofi Busia's government had struggled with a faltering economy, a currency devaluation that angered the public, and austerity measures imposed under IMF guidance. While Busia was out of the country undergoing medical treatment in London, a group of military officers under Colonel Ignatius Kutu Acheampong moved swiftly and bloodlessly to seize key installations in Accra.
The National Redemption Council, as the junta styled itself, suspended the constitution and dissolved parliament, promising to restore economic order. Acheampong initially won some public support by defaulting on foreign debts and championing self-reliance campaigns, but his rule gradually became associated with corruption and economic mismanagement.
The coup fit a broader pattern across West Africa in the 1970s, where fragile post-independence democracies repeatedly gave way to military intervention, often justified by economic crisis and elite dissatisfaction with civilian governance.