Ghana - General Ignatius Acheampong- Fantasy Issue
2002 Silver 100 Shillings 37mm (31.06 grams) 0.999 Silver
Reference: X# 25
Certification: NGC  MS 67 2854685-008
GENERAL IGNATIUS KUTU ARCHAEMPONG 1931 1979, General Ignatius Kutu Acheampong facing.
GHANA 100 SIKA 2002, National Coat-of-Arms, Ghana, 100 Sika, 2002.

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Ignatius Kutu Acheampong (/əˈtʃæmˈpɒŋ/ ə-CHAM-PONG) (23 September 1931 - 16 June 1979) was a military head of state of Ghana who ruled from 13 January 1972 to 5 July 1978, when he was deposed in a palace coup. He was later executed by firing squad.

Early life

Acheampong was born to Catholic parents of Ashanti origin. He attended the Roman Catholic schools at Trabuom and the St Peter's school (also Catholic) at Kumasi, both in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. He attended the then Central College of Commerce at Agona swedru in the central region of Ghana. He was commissioned in the Ghana Army in 1959, and served as part a member of the UN peacekeepers during the Congo Crisis.

Politics

Acheampong led a bloodless coup d'état to overthrow the democratically elected government of the Progress Party and its leader Dr. Kofi Busia on 13 January 1972. He became Head of State and Chairman of the National Redemption Council (NRC), which was later transformed into the Supreme Military Council on 9 October 1975, with Colonel Acheampong (promoted to General) as its chairman.

Notable historical changes and events introduced or implemented in Ghana during the period under Acheampong include: the change from the imperial to the metric system of measurement, change from driving on the left to right-hand drive in "Operation Keep Right", "Operation Feed Yourself" (a programme aimed at developing self-reliance in agriculture), "National Reconstruction" (aimed at promoting employment and skill for workers), face-lift projects in cities, and the reconstruction/upgrading of stadia to meet international standards.

There were, however, widespread accusations of both the encouragement and endorsement of corruption in the country under his rule.

Union Government and overthrow

Acheampong sought to perpetuate the military in government by introducing a model called "Union Government" or "Unigov" for short. This became a very contentious national issue which was vehemently opposed by many. A referendum held on 30 March 1978 to accept or reject this concept was widely believed to be rigged, though the official results were 60.11% for and 39.89% against. The electoral commissioner at the time, Justice Isaac Kobina Abban (who later became Chief Justice), went into hiding from the government for fear of his life after coming under pressure to manipulate results.

Acheampong was deposed in a palace coup on 5 July 1978 and succeeded by the Chief of Defence Staff, Lt. General Fred Akuffo. He remained under virtual house arrest at Trabuom in the Ashanti Region until the advent of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC).

Execution

Acheampong was court martialed and executed along with General Edward Kwaku Utuka by firing squad on 16 June 1979, 10 days prior to the execution of Heads of State (Gen. Afrifa and Gen. Akuffo) and other senior military officers (Amedume, Boakye, Felli and Kotei), following the 4 June military uprising that brought Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings and the AFRC to power.

Family

Acheampong was married to Faustina Acheampong. His grandson is American football player Charlie Peprah.

Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located along the Gulf of Guinea and Atlantic Ocean, in the subregion of West Africa. Spanning a land mass of 238,535 km² (92,099 sq mi), Ghana is bordered by the Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, Togo in the east and the Gulf of Guinea and Atlantic Ocean in the south. Ghana means "Warrior King" in the Soninke language.

The first permanent state in the territory of present-day Ghana dates back to the 11th century. Numerous kingdoms and empires emerged over the centuries, of which the most powerful was the Kingdom of Ashanti.^[10] Beginning in the 15th century, numerous European powers contested the area for trading rights, with the British ultimately establishing control of the coast by the late 19th century. Following over a century of native resistance, Ghana's current borders were established by the 1900s as the British Gold Coast. It became independent of the United Kingdom on 6 March 1957.

Ghana's population of approximately 30 million spans a variety of ethnic, linguistic and religious groups. According to the 2010 census, 71.2% of the population was Christian, 17.6% was Muslim, and 5.2% practised traditional faiths. Its diverse geography and ecology ranges from coastal savannahs to tropical rain forests.

Ghana is a unitary constitutional democracy led by a president who is both head of state and head of the government. Ghana's growing economic prosperity and democratic political system have made it a regional power in West Africa. It is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Group of 24 (G24) and the Commonwealth of Nations.