Meet Salifu Dagarti the man who took a bullet for Kwame Nkrumah at the Flagstaff House
- Salifu Dagarti, a presidential bodyguard took a bullet for Dr Kwame Nkrumah at the Flagstaff House in 1964
- Salifu was a British-trained police professional
- The heroic bodyguard saved Nkrumah from a 5th attempt of being assassinated after he became president
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On January 2, 1964, Salifu Dagarti, a presidential bodyguard sacrificed his life for Dr Kwame Nkrumah when he put himself on the path of a bullet that was meant for the president.
According to Ghanaianmuseum.com, it was a bright afternoon around 1:15 pm local time when Nkrumah left his office at the presidential palace on his way to Christianborg Castle for lunch.
Two security guards accompanied him. One was Saliful Dagarti who was a British-trained police professional together with a less experienced man who was from Nkrumah's political party, the CPP.
Source: UGC
As they made their way towards the car, a police officer named Constable Ametewee who was on duty at the Flagstaff House started firing shots at the president.
This attempt on the president's life would be the fifth since he assumed the highest office of the land. The younger bodyguard from the CPP quickly took cover to protect his life while Salifu Dagarti and Nkrumah dived.
The gunshots did not stop. Salifu, realizing the president would be hit by the following bullet shielded Nkrumah with his own body, dying in the process.
Constable Ametewee kept firing but after none was able to hit Nkrumah as he was shielded and also had a bulletproof vest on.
Kwame Nkrumah raced away to the kitchen at the Flagstaff House and was pursued by the Constable where they physically fought as the gun had developed a temporary problem.
The president was able to overpower Constable Ametewee by hitting his groin with force. Ametewee lay motionless on the floor.
This was when other officers arrived at the scene.
In other news, the management of GHOne TV, led by the widely celebrated Nana Aba Anamoah, has stated that the live TV show by Bukom Banku will not return.
In a post sighted by YEN.com.gh on the verified Facebook handle of GHOne TV, the management expressed their gratitude to everyone who has been a big fan of the interesting programme.
According to the statement, however, the show was purposely meant to achieve a target within the electioneering period in Ghana, which is now over.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
