ABSTRACT
Ghana has long attracted attention disproportionate to its size. As the first tropical African colony to gain independence, its road to self-government was mapped closely by journalists and scholars alike. Deliberately slow selection and advancement of Ghanaians within the officer corps maintained the colonial stamp on the military establishment. The once healthy Ghanaian economy lay in total shambles. Seriously weakened by Nkrumah's attempts at industrialization, and further affected by escalating petroleum prices, the economy was laid prostrate by widespread looting and corruption. Recivilianization in Ghana went through three phases: deposition of a distrusted, dictatorial government; internal realignment within the armed forces, through a counter-coup; transfer of control to trusted civilians. The post-1964 events chronicled in this and the preceding chapter doubtless saddened those who held high hopes for the political changes of the previous decade, in Bolivia as well as Ghana.
