Today in History, exactly 51 years ago, on April 2, 1969, Lt.-Gen Joseph Ankrah resigned as head of state after having admitted that he had received money for political purposes from a private company.
Lt.-Gen Ankrah became the head of the National Investment Bank after leaving the army.
He however became the Head of state and Chairman of the National Liberation Council after the 24 February 1966 coup.
In January 1967, Lt.-Gen Ankrah mediated between the warring factions of the Nigerian civil war in Biafra.
He was forced to resign as Chairman of the NLC and Head of State over a bribery scandal involving a Nigerian businessman.
Results of an opinion poll conducted by Nzerehe, contracted by the NLC for that purpose, showed Joseph Ankrah as the most popular person in Ghana from a field of prominent people including Afrifa and Busia.
A commission of enquiry revealed that “monies changed hands” between Joseph Ankrah and Nzerebe which might have influenced the outcome of the polls.
On April 2, 1969, Lt.-Gen Joseph Ankrah resigned as head of state after having admitted that he had received money for political purposes from a private company.
Early Life
Ankrah was born on 18 August 1915 in Accra to the Ga family of Samuel Paul Cofie Ankrah, an overseer for the Christian Missionary Society and Beatrice Abashie Quaynor, a trader.
Ankrah began his schooling in 1921 at the Wesleyan Methodist School in Accra, where his nickname was ‘Ankrah Patapaa’ for his “forcefulness in arguments and always playing leadership role among his mates”.
In 1932, he entered Accra Academy, one of the leading secondary schools in Ghana, where he established himself as a good football player.He obtained the Senior Cambridge School Certificate in 1937.
He then joined the Ghana Civil Service.
It’s good that he admitted.