John Banks Elliott was Ghana’s first Ambassador Extraordinary and to the then Soviet Union
The former head of security to Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, has made startling allegations against Ghana’s ambassador to Russia at the time of Nkrumah’s overthrow.
Speaking in a recent interview with Kafui Dey, the former security chief claimed that Ghana’s ambassador to Russia at the time, John Banks Elliott, turned his back on Kwame Nkrumah following the 1966 coup.
According to him, the ambassador removed all portraits of Kwame Nkrumah from the Ghanaian Embassy after the coup and demanded that they denounce Nkrumah when they sought refuge there for the deposed president, who had been overthrown while on a trip to China.
He further alleged that the ambassador expelled them from the embassy and left them exposed to the harsh Russian winter after they refused to denounce Nkrumah.
“I told him that as long as I was the leader of the group, we were not going to denounce Nkrumah in order for him to arrange our return to Ghana. We had a mission, and that mission was to prepare the ground for Nkrumah to come back. We didn’t mention where we were going,” he narrated.
“So, to our surprise, we were sacked from the Ghana Embassy. You can imagine—it was February and snowing in Moscow. The cold was no joke. The gates were locked behind us, with no way back,” he added.
John Banks Elliott was a highly respected diplomat and Ghana’s first Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Soviet Union, now Russia.
He was first accredited as Ghana’s ambassador to the Soviet Union in 1960 by the last Governor-General of the Gold Coast (now Ghana), William Francis Hare. When Nkrumah became President, he reappointed Banks Elliott to the same position.
He served in that role until after the transition to military rule in 1966.
During his tenure, he played several key roles, including serving as Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, Head of Commonwealth Ambassadors, Head of African and Asian Diplomats, and Head of the African Ambassadors Group.
BAI/MA
