STATEMENT OF THE ACCRA COLLECTIVE OF SMG IN COMMEMORATION OF 56 YEARS OF THE TREASONABLE ACT OF 24TH FEBRUARY 1966 – GHANA’S DAY OF SHAME

Every Year, on the 24th of February, the Socialist Movement of Ghana recounts the sad event which occurred on the 24th February 1966 – It was the day on which one of the most vicious attacks was launched on African’s independence and this was done from our country.
This attack was orchestrated by the intelligence Services of western imperialism executed by a handful of traitors in our uniformed services, conniving and conspiring with the leadership of the Danquah – Busia tradition who unfortunately wield political power today.
The 1966 coup that toppled the Nkrumah regime was very destructive. All attempts by different political actors to peddle falsehood that the coup was popular and bloodless have suffered a great deal of damage.
The truth is that 24th February 1966 was a bloody event which culminated into weeks of arrest, detention, looting, rape and killings. On the day of the coup many people were killed in cold blood – they included but not limited to soldiers, police officers and innocent unarmed civilians.
Following the coup hundreds of leaders of the CPP, trade unionists, leaders of the farmers council, cooperatives, civil and public servants, security personnel were arrested incarcerated and tortured by the new regime – books were burnt, schools were shut, and historical artefacts were destroyed.
The counter revolution on the 24th of February drew us many years backwards in our quest to provide decent living conditions for the masses of our people. The reversals in education, health care, Agriculture and all other social services are monumental.
The coup makers peddled falsehood that the massive developmental projects undertaken by the Nkrumah regime were prestigious projects – the Tema motorway, the cocoa and food crop silos in Accra, Tema, Ho, the state housing, the atomic energy complex in Kwabenya, the pre -fabricated construction factory in Tema, the commencement of the Bui Dam project, Volta river project and hundreds of other related economic facilities and infrastructure.
It is self-evident that the 1966 coup sets Ghana’s development backwards by at least a generation.
Today, 56 solid years after the overthrow of the Nkrumah, Ghana’s economy under the tutelage of the Bretton wood institutions (IMF and World Bank) is one of the worse performing economies, dept ridden with over 90% of total revenue being used to service dept.
Fifty-six (56) years after this Day of Shame, Africa has not achieved economic and political independence. Most African governments, like Ghana pursue the objectives of the

independence movement only rhetorically while overseeing the systematic rape of their peoples’ resources and labour power for the benefit of their Western masters and for the freedom to accumulate wealth through staggering corruption.
Illustrative of how far we have fallen is the fact that 56 years after the sabotage of the 1st Republic by the Danquah-Busia tradition, Ghana is at its weakest point in its independent history.
We mark this day of Shame every year to remind ourselves of the need to close ranks, build solidarity and always remain vigilant against those who would put their greed before our development needs. We must commit to eradicating the imperialist epidemic that is destroying our lives and the lives of our children and undermining Africa’s place in the world.
Long live the African Revolution!
Long live the Nkrumaist Vision!

Signed.
Blaise Tulo
Convener