Reformer Removed

Ghana's first President, Kwame Nkrumah, was a master of using his office for personal benefit. In six years of increasingly ruinous rule, the self-proclaimed "Redeemer" of Ghana managed to squander his way through the country's entire treasury of $560 million and run up another $1 billion in foreign debts. He built vast and useless public monuments as well as an overpowering presidential palace. To take care of odds and ends, he also accepted bribes in return for government favors.

Nkrumah's spending and bribe taking led in 1966 to his overthrow by the military leaders. Lieut. General Joseph Ankrah became Ghana's new head of state, dedicated to reform. Ankrah and his followers pledged that they would "stamp out corruption" and their upright regime seemed to be doing just that. But last week Ankrah was also forced out of office. Reason: he took a bribe.

According to a government statement, Ankrah received nearly $30,000 from foreign businessmen in Accra. As the official version put it, when Ankrah was confronted with the evidence by government officials, "he accepted full responsibility for the unfortunate incident and offered to resign honorably." By West African standards, Ankrah had always been a model of honesty; for that reason, despite his admitted indiscretion, he will probably not be punished.

Ghana's new ruler is Brigadier Akwasi A. Afrifa, 33, who has served as Finance Minister. Like Ankrah, Afrifa is a Sandhurst-trained career officer who also held a command in Ghana's U.N. expeditionary force to the Congo. Under Afrifa's management, Ghana has been living frugally on an austerity budget. That is also Afrifa's personal style: he lives in a modest bungalow and drives a small station wagon.

There was something besides the bribe behind Ankrah's sudden departure. Ghana is scheduled to hold national elections in September and return to civilian rule. Politically ambitious, Ankrah needed the money to pay for a survey that assessed his chances of winning the presidency. There may also have been tribal jealousies involved. Ankrah is a member of the Ga tribe, dominant around the capital, and Afrifa belongs to the Ashantis. Furthermore, Afrifa is a supporter of a fellow Ashanti, former Opposition Leader Kofi Abrefa Busia, who is a candidate for the presidency.

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