Accra: Major Patrick Adjei-Ampofo (rtd) has revealed that Ghana's security agencies were confronted with repeated coup plots during the military era of General Ignatius Kutu Acheampong, creating a highly dangerous environment for those responsible for national security. According to him, Captain Kojo Tsikata and members of his group were allegedly involved in persistent coup planning because they were dissatisfied with the prevailing situation at the time.
According to Ghana Web, Major Adjei-Ampofo, in an interview with broadcaster Kafui Dey, detailed how intelligence reports received by the security agencies indicated that different groups were plotting to overthrow the government. He explained that security officials did not always arrest suspected coup plotters immediately but often sought to disrupt their activities by making them aware they were being monitored.
"Every day, every night, because we had the intelligence, we go through the intelligence; you can't sleep. This one is planning a coup, this one is planning a coup. Every day," he said. He further elaborated that by alerting the plotters of their awareness, they often scared them off, causing the groups to disperse temporarily before regrouping.
One of the most disturbing coup plots of the period, Major Adjei-Ampofo recounted, involved a group known as the 'one-man, one-machete' group. Associated with Captain Kojo Tsikata, this group allegedly planned to attack and kill people using machetes. The security agencies managed to infiltrate the group, with an informant providing intelligence about its activities, eventually leading to the arrest and trial of its members.
Members of this group were later sentenced to death by firing squad, a decision Major Adjei-Ampofo opposed, appealing to General Acheampong against bloodshed. Initially, General Acheampong opted to commute the sentences to life imprisonment, but the continued threats eventually pushed him to reconsider and sign the death warrants, seeking Major Adjei-Ampofo's advice at the final moment.
During this period, Major Adjei-Ampofo noted considerable internal tensions within the military, with constant intelligence reports about planned coups making it difficult for security officials to sleep. He rejected the suggestion that the army was formally divided along ethnic lines, despite the tense environment. Two coup plots were allowed to develop to the point where the authorities could make arrests, rather than being disrupted at the initial planning stage.