“I Heard My Dismissal on the Radio” — Ghana’s First Female Bank Manager Reflects on 1979 Revolution

Ghana’s first female bank manager, Veronica Abla Adika has recounted how she was dismissed from her job as the manger at the Ghana Commercial Bank through a radio announcement during the aftermath of the 1979 military coup in Ghana.

Speaking in an interview with Kafui Dey, Madam Adika detailed how she became entangled in investigations linked to a Ghana Airways aircraft leasing arrangement involving a letter of credit transaction.

According to her, Ghana Airways had hired an aircraft for its operations and opened a letter of credit to facilitate payment. However, authorities later alleged that the aircraft was never supplied, resulting in financial loss to the state.

“There was a plane hired by Ghana Airways for air routes, and they opened a letter of credit for it,” she explained. “They said the man didn’t provide the plane they were going to use, and there was financial loss to the state.”

The coup, led by former military ruler Jerry John Rawlings under the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), was described as a “house-cleaning exercise” aimed at tackling corruption, indiscipline and economic mismanagement. The period was marked by widespread investigations, public interrogations and dismissals involving state officials and public servants.

She explained that a commission of inquiry had already begun probing the matter before the coup disrupted proceedings. Following the AFRC takeover, security authorities arrested all officials connected to the transaction, including herself.

Madam Adika revealed that her dismissal was later announced publicly on radio without any formal letter being issued to her.

“At that time, they dismissed you on the radio; they didn’t write to you,” she said. “When it was one o’clock, many people were shaking because you didn’t know if your dismissal would come through the airwaves.”

Despite the public embarrassment, Madam Adika said she had mentally prepared herself for the possibility of losing her job because of the ongoing investigations.

Following the return to constitutional rule later in 1979, the government established review mechanisms, including a special court presided over by Justice Abban, to revisit unresolved cases and petitions from affected persons.

The veteran banker said lawyer Albert Fiajoe volunteered to defend her at the special court established after the military era to review unresolved cases.

According to her, the court eventually overturned her dismissal, restored all withheld benefits and ruled that her work rather deserved promotion instead of punishment.

“They cancelled the dismissal, reinstated me, gave me all those monies that were forfeited, and recommended that the work I did deserved rather a promotion,” she recounted.

Madam Adika added that she was promoted the following year after returning to work.

Reflecting on the ordeal, she said she never broke down emotionally throughout the process.

“I didn’t cry,” she told Kafui Dey during the interview. She also advised young people to adopt honesty, contentment, discipline and integrity as their hallmark.