[4] He is believed to have led the palace coup that removed General Acheampong as Head of State in July 1978.

[6][7] In his capacity as a cabinet member, Odartey-Wellington led the Ghanaian delegation to the General Debate of the thirty-third session of the UN General Assembly in October 1978, where, apart from delivering a blistering attack on the Ian Smith regime in what was then Rhodesia, as well as South Africa's apartheid policy and its occupation of Namibia, he reaffirmed Ghana's commitment to Palestinian self-determination, including the option to establish an independent State.

[8] The SMC II commenced the transition to multi-party democratic rule, but was itself overthrown in a bloody coup on June 4, 1979, during which Major General Odartey-Wellington was killed while leading loyal troops.

[13] Ghana's National Reconciliation Commission has highly commended Odartey-Wellington for his sense of duty and “daring leadership”[14] in trying to quell the revolt so as to safeguard the transition process.

Odartey-Wellington's children have since been involved in high-profile clashes in the press with Jerry Rawlings, the airman who led the 4 June 1979 coup that resulted in the killing of the former Army Commander.