Chapter 3 particularly the youth. The CPP's usage of the phrase'self­government now' as opposed to the United Gold Coast Convention(UGCC), the other independence movement's slogan of'independence in the shortest possible time' resonated more with ordinary Ghanaians, derogatively characterized by the UGCC as'verandah boys'. This appeal to and usage of populist rhetoric then continued in the multiple military coups d'état starting in 1966 with the National Liberation Council(NLC) and in 1972 with the National Redemption Council(NRC) slogan of'yentua'(we will not repay our loans) and its accusations against the overthrown democratic regime of the Progress Party(PP) led by Kofi Abrefa Busia, of having taken away the modest fringe benefits('the few amenities') of the armed forces similarly resonated with the population. Such appeals to popular sentiment were exhibited again both during the rule of the Peoples' National Party(PNP) under Hilla Limann(1979-1981) and more radically during the four months''house-cleaning exercise' by the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council(AFRC) beginning in June 1979. Finally, with the declaration of a revolutionary regime in 1981(the Provisional National Defence Council) to supposedly cleanse the society and military of corruption, populist politics became an established genre in contemporary Ghanaian politics. The paper begins with a conceptualization of populism and populist politics in Ghana from the immediate post­independence period. It starts with the arrival of Kwame Nkrumah on the national political scene and the development, growth and myth around the'Nkrumah Showboy' sloganeering. Subsequently, the paper discusses how two different military 63