Following an attempt on President Kwame Nkrumah's life in Kulungugu, three of his close associates were arrested for the assassination attempt. The accused in the case were Ebenezer Ako-Adjei (foreign minister), Tawia Adamafio (information minister), and Hugh Horatio Cofie-Crabbe (executive secretary of Nkrumah's political party). They were jailed under the Preventive Detention Act. CPP publications accused the defendants of complicity in the assassination attempt due to all of them choosing to ride in cars far behind the president when the bomb was thrown.
Tawia Adamafio, Nkrumah's accused information minister
The trial lasted for over a year and the three were originally cleared by the court, headed by Chief Justice Arku Korsah. Nkrumah subsequently had Korsah dismissed from the bench and appointed a new court, re-charging the exonerated defendants. Nkrumah handpicked the jury in the next court which found the three guilty and sentenced them to death. The death sentences were later commuted to twenty year sentences.
After expanding the powers of police to detain those under investigation from 24 hours to 28 days, an anonymous Ghanaian citizen was quoted by the Chicago Tribune as saying, "maybe the president realizes the danger of being elected president for life. Only death can get rid of a man in that position." In 1966, the accused were finally released following the overthrow of the Nkrumah regime. Ako-Adjei, the most prominent of the group swore off politics.
Dr. Ebenezer Ako-Adjei, Nkrumah's accused foreign minister