[] to everyone who wasseated there at the meeting and asked them: "Frimpong says we have five-hundred thousand. Ishe right? Do you agree withhim?" And everybody said "Yes." That was the first time the whole Cabinetacknowledged to the President that Ghana was bankrupt.[From footage of Kwame Nkrumah making an announcement] "Our objective is: African Union now. There isno time to waste. We must unite, or we perish. I am confidentthat by our concerted effort and determination ..."Bill Mahoney, US Ambassador to Ghana 19621965 Kwame Nrumah was losing both domestically andinternationally in his posture; he was practically alone in Flagstaff House [the presidentialpalace in Accra]. He was really a little bit paranoid; it was really awfully sad. He was even afraid to... Iremember they opened their parliament one day and Nkrumah didn't want to take the chance to drive fromFlagstaff House to the parliament building... He was a prisoner, in a sense. You know, there hadbeen a couple of attempts on his life while we were there, so he had reason to be a little bitapprehensive; but, toward the end, he was a different person.On 22 January 1966, the damwas finally finished. Nkrumah organised a massive celebration. He invited thewhole country to attend.Al Haji Futa, Volta River Project 19601986 The mood of the people at the celebration, the moodof the country, was euphoric. There was this vast project which had come in; and theyunderstood [that] it would have a tremendous impact and effect on the country. I felt euphoric. I was quite enthusiastic. I felt anew dawn had come for Ghana.[Jonathan Frimpong-Ansah] But all that was happening against a background of acountry that already had no money; it [..?..] controls and [..?..] controls... So it was just like a big "emperor's new clothes".Nobody could say that Ghana was broke, but Ghana it was broke.[From footage of Kwame Nkrumah's address at (presumably) the opening of thedam] "President Eisenhower... and President Kennedy...were genuinely interested in this project because...they saw, behind the cold figures and the rigid calculations, that the VoltaRiver Project wasnot only an economically viable project, but also an opportunity for the United States of Americato make a purposeful capital investment in a developing country. "You see before you, in all its majesty,strength and power, the Akosombo Dam, which has tamed theturbulent waters of the Volta ..."Louis Casley-Hayford, dam engineer 1966 A lot of us [] did not take our seats atthe official seating place [but instead] watched the ceremony from further uphill. [There were m]any, many reasons for that:one of them was that there was talk of a possible coup at the time.[Broadcast on] RADIO GHANA, ONE MONTH LATER [Unidentified voice:] "Citizens of Ghana and fellowcountrymen: Good evening. The Ghana Armed Forces tookover the reins of government of this country after a successful overthrow ofthe regime ofKwame Nkrumah, in what may be truly described as one of the boldest ventures in the historyof this country ..."The military coup wonenormous popular support. Nkrumah had failed to deliver the modern Ghana he hadpromised. The dam had cometoo late to save him.But there were other forcesinvolved