Word: acheampong
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...commerce, the market mammies, turned out by the thousands last week to celebrate the sudden, bloodless coup that had deposed the civilian government of Prime Minister Kofi Busia. Their faces powdered white with talcum and wood ash, the women carried placards supporting the military junta headed by Colonel Ignatius Acheampong and urging the execution of his enemies. One angry sign read CRUCIFY AFRICA, referring to General Akwasi Afrifa, a hero of the 1966 coup against Kwame Nkrumah who is now in prison, accused by the new government of trying to assassinate Acheampong and restore Busia to power...
...euphoric mob reaction was understandable. Since his election in 1969, Busia had gradually lost popularity by imposing harsh fiscal measures -including a 48% currency devaluation last month-to rescue an economy still reeling from the extravagances of the Nkrumah era. The real question now, however, was whether Acheampong would be able to handle the economy as well. Even while calling upon Ghanaians to "sweat" and sacrifice, he increased the pay of lower-ranking civil servants and lowered basic food prices to their pre-devaluation levels with the help of a huge government subsidy...
Flexing Muscles. In the long run, such grandstanding gestures will only result in an intensification of Colonel Acheampong's economic problems. In London, the deposed Busia claimed that the coup had cost Ghana a $45 million loan from the U.S. and $123 million in loans and credits from the International Monetary Fund. "Without the massive overseas aid I had marshalled," said Busia, "the country is utterly bankrupt...
...Colonel Acheampong could hardly disagree with Busia's diagnosis. "I took over to save Ghana from total economic collapse," he told TIME Correspondent Eric Robins. But he brushed aside all specific questions about the country's huge foreign debt of more than $1 billion, its steep inflation and high unemployment. "Economic experts have been given these matters to study," he said. "We will then decide what to do. There will be no hasty decisions, but at the right time we will act decisively...
Describing his government as a "week-old baby that is beginning to flex its muscles," Acheampong spoke almost plaintively about the problems ahead. "Yes," he sighed, "I know it's going to be a herculean job against fearful odds, but with the help of Almighty God, I will prevail." As he rightly suggested, he is going to need all the help...