‘Yentua’ was negotiation, not recklessness – Sam Jonah on Acheampong’s debt decision
Business leader Sam Jonah has praised former Head of State General Ignatius Kutu Acheampong’s 1972 decision to repudiate some of Ghana’s external debt, describing it as an act of courage and a demonstration of negotiation skill. Delivering the Second General I.K. Acheampong Memorial Lecture in Accra on Friday, November 13, 2026, Mr Jonah said Acheampong’s government announced on February 5, 1972, that Ghana would not honour about US$90 million in suppliers’ credits it considered tainted by corruption, fraud or inflated contracts. He said the decision became known through the Akan expression “Yentua”, meaning “we will not pay”. “The Daily Graphic put it in one Akan word, in a headline this country has never forgotten: Yentua. We will not pay,” he said.