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Ghana The 1981 Coup and the Second Rawlings Government
The combination of official corruption, Rawlings's continued
political activities, and deteriorating economic conditions doomed
the Limann government. On December 31, 1981, Rawlings, supported by
lower-ranking soldiers, most of whom served in the Reconnaissance
Regiment, seized power. Rawlings then established the Provisional
National Defence Council (PNDC) to rule the country, dissolved
parliament, and banned all political parties. On January 21, 1982,
Rawlings appointed a sixteen-member civilian government with a
cabinet of secretaries and told them to "serve the people
sacrificially." The PNDC also assumed control of the Ministry of
Defence. The Rawlings regime further consolidated its power by
promulgating PNDC Law 42, which suspended the constitution and gave
the government wide powers over Ghanaian citizens.
Shortly after seizing power, Rawlings took action against
individuals who had allegedly committed crimes against the Ghanaian
people. In January 1982, for example, the PNDC ordered former
members of the banned PNP and other undesirable elements to report
to the nearest police station or army barracks. The authorities
detained some of these individuals and released others after
registering their names. The police and army continued this roundup
by arresting allegedly corrupt individuals who had served in the
Limann government, former members of parliament, businessmen
suspected of trading on the black market, and alleged coup
plotters. On June 30, 1982, one or more members of the PNDC and
their accomplices abducted and then murdered three High Court of
Justice judges and the personnel director of the Ghana Industrial
Holdings Corporation.
Despite the popularity of the Rawlings regime, there were two
coup attempts in late 1982 and in early 1983. On November 23, 1982,
a group of soldiers tried to overthrow the regime, initiating
hostilities at Gondar Barracks. Government forces, however,
defeated the rebels and the police arrested more than twenty
people. The other coup attempt occurred on February 27, 1983, when
security forces arrested nine soldiers and two civilians in
Achimota, near Accra. The authorities claimed that they also
discovered heavy machine guns, rockets, ammunition, and a list of
people to be assassinated. Kojo Tsikata, special adviser to the
PNDC, also accused the United States embassy of involvement in the
coup attempt, but the Ghanaian government never proved this
allegation.
Challenges to the Rawlings regime continued throughout the
1980s. Between 1985 and 1986, for example, there were at least
seven coup attempts. On September 24, 1989, two days after Rawlings
had assumed direct command of the armed forces, the government
announced that it had foiled yet another attempted coup. The
attempt was led by Major Courage Quarshigah, a popular officer in
the Ghanaian armed forces, former commandant of the Ghana Military
Academy, and a former close ally of Rawlings. Quarshigah and four
other army officers were arrested. They were accused of planning to
assassinate Rawlings as part of the coup, but several of the
accused allegedly favored a return to constitutional rule under a
civilian government.
Despite the so-called Quarshigah Affair and other attempted
coups, Rawlings remained in control of the PNDC and the armed
forces, which he commanded from September 1989 until June 1990. An
Economic Recovery Program (ERP), supported by the International
Monetary Fund
(
IMF--see Glossary) and the
World Bank (see Glossary), was adopted to improve the
lives of Ghanaians. The
Rawlings regime also acceded to popular demands for a democratic,
multiparty election. Despite these accomplishments, however,
corruption, authoritarianism, and incompetence have continued to be
significant problems.
Data as of November 1994
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