In November 1975, J. H. Mensah, Finance Minister in the Busia government was jailed by an Accra Special Court together with Kwame Karikari, a former private secretary of Busia and I. C. Quaye, a former Progress Party MP for Ayawaso between 1969 and 1972 for publishing material against the SMC. In September 1976, the Ghana Bar Association asked the SMC to abolish the military tribunals in the country and also to initiate steps towards returning the country to civilian rule. Groups which had campaigned against Union government, including the People's Movement for Freedom and Justice (PMFJ), The Third Force and the Front for Prevention of Dictatorship were banned shortly after the referendum. The PMFJ was formed in January 1978 and led by Komla Gbedemah, Akwasi Afrifa and William Ofori Atta. Gbedemah, Ofori Atta, Victor Owusu, John Bilson and Adu Boahen were placed in detention. Others opposed to union government and the SMC went into exile. Opposition and discontent within the military and the general population continued throughout 1978. At the start of the Union government project, two officers who raised concerns were removed. They were Rear Admiral C. K. Dzang, Navy commander and Brigadier Joseph Nunoo-Mensah.
