IK Acheampong was Ghana’s head of state from 1972 to 1978
•IK Acheampong was Ghana’s head of state from 1972 to 1978
•It has been reported that his administration was corrupt, and he was a womanizer
•Professor Agyeman-Duah, who has written a book about his administration, says he found no evidence of corruption against him
Political scientist, Professor Baffour Agyeman-Duah, has revealed what he contends to be the biggest weakness of former Head of State Ignatius Kutu Acheampong.
According to Professor Baffour Agyemang-Duah, his extensive research into the Acheampong administration has made him realize he (IK Acheampong) was loyal to extremely generous people.
He disclosed that due to his generous nature, Acheampong could not penalize elements within his administration who misconducted themselves.
Speaking to Asaase Radio, Professor Agyemang-Duah held that his journey into the administration of Acheampong has filled him with a renewed mindset.
He surmised that contrary to the picture of corruption and womanizing painted of Acheampong, he found no such thing against him.
He gathered that Acheampong was, however ‘weak’ in dealing with his appointees who took a different path from him the ruler.
“The first five years of Acheampong I think was very good and very effective. I didn’t have that opinion [of him before writing the book]. I was part of the group that had pedestrian knowledge of him and therefore saw him as corrupt, a womanizer and all kinds of stuff.
“…Otherwise he was weak in controlling his officers because these were soldiers and one reason why the young officers got angry …was that those soldiers who were in government did a new lifestyle. Acheampong’s weakness was that he was too generous to a fault.”
Professor Agyemang-Duah also said that he found no evidence of corruption against Acheampong as widely speculated.
“When I reviewed the facts, I realised that the familiar story about General Acheampong − that he was a womaniser, that he was corrupt, and so on − was not the whole truth about the man.”
He added, “When people talk of corruption which was the main charge against him; after my research, it was hard to come across real issues of corruption [against him] … When he was overthrown, they could not discover any significant amount in his local bank account. They did not discover any foreign account…so if he was corrupt where was the money.”
IK Acheampong was Ghana’s head of state from 1972 to 1978. He died on June 16, 1979, by firing squad.