A referendum on the system of government was held in Ghana on 30 March 1978.
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.
In December 1971 the government of Kofi Abrefa Busia drastically devalued the cedi. However, the authorities' inability to control the subsequent inflationary pressures led to discontent, and military officers seized power in a bloodless coup on 13 January 1972.
Kofi Abrefa Busia was Prime Minister of Ghana from 1969 to 1972. As a nationalist leader and Prime Minister, he helped to restore civilian government to the country following military rule.
The Ghanaian cedi is the unit of currency of Ghana. It is the fourth historical and only current legal tender in the Republic of Ghana. One cedi is divided into one hundred pesewas (Gp).
The coup leaders, led by Col. Ignatius Kutu Acheampong, formed the National Redemption Council (NRC) to which they admitted other officers, the head of the police, and one civilian. The NRC promised improvements in the quality of life for all Ghanaians and based its programs on nationalism, economic development, and self-reliance. In 1975, a government reorganization resulted in the NRC's replacement by the Supreme Military Council (SMC), also headed by now-General Acheampong.
Ignatius Kutu Acheampong 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.
The National Redemption Council (NRC) was the ruling Ghana military government from 13 January 1972 to 9 October 1975. Its chairman was Colonel I. K. Acheampong, who was thus also the head of state of Ghana.
Unable to deliver on its promises, the NRC/SMC became increasingly marked by mismanagement and rampant corruption. In 1977, General Acheampong brought forward the concept of union government (UNIGOV), which would make Ghana a non-party state.
Question
The referendum posed the question:
Do you approve whether or not some form of Union Government would become the basis of Ghana's political system?
There were 4,497,803 registered voters for the referendum.
Although the referendum passed, professional groups and students perceived UNIGOV to be ploy by Acheampong to retain power, and continued the strikes and demonstrations against the government which had begun in 1977. The steady erosion in Acheampong's power led to his arrest in July 1978 by his chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Fred Akuffo, who replaced him as head of state and leader of what became known as the SMC-2.
Lieutenant General Frederick William "Fred" Kwasi Akuffo was a soldier and politician. He was a Chief of Defence Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces and a Head of state and chairman of the ruling Supreme Military Council (SMC) in Ghana from 1978 to 1979. He came to power in a military coup, was overthrown in another military coup and executed three weeks later.
Akuffo abandoned UNIGOV and established a plan to return to constitutional and democratic government. A Constitutional Assembly was established, and political party activity was revived. Akuffo was unable to solve Ghana's economic problems, however, or to reduce the rampant corruption in which senior military officers played a major role. On 4 June 1979, his government was deposed in a violent coup by a group of junior and non-commissioned officers - the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) - with Flt. Lt. Jerry Rawlings as its chairman. Presidential and parliamentary elections were held in the summer of 1979.
The Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) was the government of Ghana from June 4, 1979 to September 24, 1979. It came to power in a bloody coup that removed the Supreme Military Council, another military regime, from power. The June 4 coup was preceded by an abortive attempt on May 15, 1979 when Flt. Lt. Jerry Rawlings and other ranks were arrested. Their trial only served to make them popular till they were eventually released on the morning of June 4 by young officers and noncommissioned officers inspired by Rawlings.
Jerry John Rawlings is a former Ghanaian military leader and politician who ruled the country from 1981 to 2001 and also for a brief period in 1979. He led a military junta until 1992 and then served two terms as the democratically elected President of Ghana.
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