Following the overthrow of Ghana’s first president, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, in a coup led by Major General E.K. Kotoka and Lieutenant General J.A. Ankrah, a former close associate has shared a striking account of how Nkrumah predicted a wave of coups across Africa.
Chris Hesse, a videographer who once shared an office with Nkrumah, spoke to JoyNews about the tense moments following the 1966 coup while they were on a state visit to China.
He recalled that after the news of Nkrumah’s overthrow broke, there was chaos and fear among the ministers who had travelled with him.
According to Chris, Nkrumah remained calm and made a chilling prediction.
“The day after the announcement, there was a big confusion in the Ghana camp, and the coup in Ghana meant something. We were at the mercy of the Chinese government… All the ministers left the president and Nkrumah said what has happened in Ghana is what is going to happen in the continent of Africa.
“There will several coups in Africa until the whole of the continent will go down into the pit until the whole of Africa will grow from the ashes,” he recounted.
Chris, who continued to work as a filmmaker after Nkrumah’s fall, went on to serve under other Ghanaian leaders, including Jerry John Rawlings.
Having started working with Nkrumah at the age of 24, Chris went on to become one of Ghana’s most respected filmmakers, eventually leading the Ghana Film Corporation before retiring in 2000.
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