General
“When we were overthrown, I was initially incarcerated at Michel Camp . I spent a year in detention,” he recalled.
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Major Patrick Adjei-Ampofo, the military assistant to former Head of State General Ignatius Kutu Acheampong, has recounted how his boss’ overthrow in the 1978 Palace Coup abruptly ended his role and landed him in detention for a year.
Speaking in an interview with Kafui Dey, Major Adjei-Ampofo said his last encounter with General Acheampong came just a day before the military leader was removed from office.
“When we were overthrown, I was initially incarcerated at Michel Camp . I spent a year in detention,” he recalled.
According to him, General Acheampong was taken to a chalet around the Akosombo Dam area following the coup, marking the last time he saw the man he had served as military assistant.
“When he was overthrown, he was taken across to the Akosombo Dam area. There’s a chalet there. That was the last time I saw him,” he said.
But while Acheampong was being removed from power, Major Adjei-Ampofo was also trying to stay out of the hands of the plotters.
He disclosed that there had been a contingency plan to prevent the overthrow, with the expectation that the officers involved would be arrested during a meeting on the Wednesday.
“We had planned that he shouldn’t go to work. And then on the Wednesday when they were meeting, we would arrest them,” he said.
“We had contingency, a lot of planning. We had our own plan.”
Despite the plan, Acheampong went to work without his military assistant.
Major Adjei-Ampofo said Acheampong normally began his day at the Ministry of Defence, where he would spend a few hours before proceeding with other duties. But on that fateful day, the plotters were waiting for him.
“They had planned it, that they were going to force him to sign a resignation letter. I didn’t know about it. No, I knew about that, so I said he shouldn’t go to work,” he recounted.
After reaching Acheampong, the officers allegedly forced him to sign a declaration. The former Head of State then asked for some time to consider the situation.
“He said, ‘okay, give me a couple of minutes to think over.’ And they left,” Major Adjei-Ampofo said.
That brief moment became crucial.
According to him, Acheampong sent his ADC to look for him while he remained in hiding at Job 600.
“I was hiding in Job 600 throughout all this period,” he revealed.
His decision to stay away from home was not simply about protecting himself.
“I wasn’t sleeping at home because my wife, my life was also in danger. I was always in danger,” he said.
Eventually, Major Adjei-Ampofo returned home after making a morning call to check whether anything had happened during the night.
He was told that some chiefs had arrived at his house to see Acheampong.
“I went and listened to them,” he said.
Believing Acheampong was still at home, he then set out to see his boss.
But as he approached the house, he noticed something was wrong.
“When I got near the house, I saw people standing in groups. And I saw Mrs Acheampong also standing there quiet with the group,” he recalled.
Confused by the unusual gathering, he asked her what was happening.
“And I said, ‘Madam, why are you all standing here like this?’ She said, ‘Come in here. Haven’t you heard?’”
Major Adjei-Ampofo said he asked what she meant.
“I said, ‘Heard what?’ Papa has been deposed. He has resigned.”
The revelation left him stunned.
“Ah, did he go to work?” he asked.
She confirmed that he had.
For Major Adjei-Ampofo, the Palace Coup not only ended Acheampong’s leadership but also brought his own military career under the new order to an abrupt halt.
He was subsequently detained for a year, closing one of the most dramatic chapters of his service alongside General Acheampong.
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