Ghana foils “coup d’état”

Ghana’s security forces foiled a “plot” that targeted the presidency and whose “ultimate goal [is] to destabilize the country,” according to the Ministry of Information.

Last Friday, a joint security operation led to the arrest of three people and the seizure of several weapons, the statement said. Among those arrested was a local arms manufacturer.

The operation took place after “15 months of monitoring and gathering evidence on the activities of the main suspects and others”. Between June and August of last year, one of the suspects “contacted a number of servicemen and spoke to them to convince them to develop and execute a plot to obtain weapons, to take controlling key facilities and securing funds to seize power,” the statement said.

Ghana is considered one of the most stable countries in West Africa since it transitioned to multi-party democracy in 1992, relegating to the past a succession of coups.

President Nana Akufo-Addo won an election in December 2016, with outgoing President John Mahama accepting defeat after a hard-fought election.