Ghana Armed Forces
The Ghana Armed Forces is the unified armed force of Ghana, consisting of the Army, Navy, and Ghana Air Force.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces is the President of Ghana, who is also the supreme military commander of the Border Guard Unit. The Armed Forces are managed by the Minister of Defence and the Chief of Defence Staff.
History
In 1879 the Gold Coast Constabulary was established from personnel of the Hausa Constabulary of Southern Nigeria, to perform internal security and police duties in the British colony of the Gold Coast. In this guise, the regiment earned its first battle honour as part of the Ashanti campaign.during the Burma Campaign in the South-East Asian Theatre of World War II.
The Gold Coast Constabulary was renamed in 1901 as the Gold Coast Regiment, following the foundation of the West African Frontier Force, under the direction of the Colonial Office of the British Government. The regiment raised a total of five battalions for service during the First World War, all of which served during the East Africa campaign. During the Second World War, the regiment raised nine battalions, and saw action in Kenya's Northern Frontier District, Italian Somaliland, Abyssinia and Burma as part of the 2nd Infantry Brigade. Gold Coast soldiers returning from the Far East carried different perspectives from when they had departed.
Internal operations
The Ghana Armed Forces were formed in 1957. Major General Stephen Otu was appointed Chief of Defence Staff in September 1961. From 1966, the Armed Forces were extensively involved in politics, mounting several coups. Kwame Nkrumah had become Ghana's first Prime Minister when the country became independent in 1957. As Nkrumah's rule wore on, he began to take actions which disquieted the leadership of the armed forces, including the creation and expansion of the President's Own Guard Regiment.As a result, on February 24, 1966, a small number of Army personnel and senior police officials, led by Colonel Emmanuel Kotoka, commander of the Second Brigade at Kumasi, Major Akwasi Afrifa,, Lieutenant General Joseph Ankrah, and J.W.K. Harlley,, successfully launched "Operation Cold Chop", the 1966 Ghanaian coup d'état, against the Nkrumah regime. The group formed the National Liberation Council, which ruled Ghana from 1966 to 1969.
The Armed Forces seized power again in January 1972, after the reinstated civilian government cut military privileges and started changing the leadership of the army's combat units. Lieutenant Colonel Ignatius Kutu Acheampong led the bloodless 1972 Ghanaian coup d'état that ended the Second Republic. Thus the National Redemption Council was formed. Acheampong became head of state, and the NRC ruled from 1972 to 1975.
On October 9, 1975, the NRC was replaced by the Supreme Military Council. Council members were Colonel Acheampong,, Lt. Gen. Fred Akuffo,, and the army, navy, air force and Border Guard Unit commanders.
In July 1978, in a sudden move, the other SMC officers forced Acheampong to resign, replacing him with Lt. Gen. Akuffo. The SMC apparently acted in response to continuing pressure to find a solution to the country's economic dilemma; inflation was estimated to be as high as 300% that year. The council was also motivated by Acheampong's failure to dampen rising political pressure for changes. Akuffo, the new SMC chairman, promised publicly to hand over political power to a new government to be elected by 1 July 1979.
The decree lifting the ban on party politics went into effect on 1 January 1979, as planned. However in June, just before the scheduled resumption of civilian rule, a group of young armed forces officers, led by Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings, mounted the 1979 Ghanaian coup d'état. They put in place the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council, which governed until September 1979. However, in 1981, Rawlings deposed the new civilian government again, in the 1981 Ghanaian coup d'état. This time Rawlings established the Provisional National Defence Council. The PNDC remained in government until January 7, 1993. In the last years of the PNDC, Jerry Rawlings assumed civilian status; he was elected as a civilian President in 1993 and continued as President until 2001.
External operations
The Armed Forces' first external operation was the United Nations Operation in the Congo in the early 1960s, then the GAF training of Rhodesian guerrillas. The GAF operated in the Balkans, including with UNMIK, with the GAF external operations within Africa including the Rwandan genocide which in his book Shake Hands with the Devil, Canadian Forces commander Romeo Dallaire gave the Ghanaian soldiers high praise for their work during the civil and conflict, and Liberia civil war paving way for the Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreement among others. Operations in Asia have included Iran and Iraq in the Iran–Iraq War, Kuwait and Lebanon civil war among others.A total of 3,359 Ghana Army soldiers and 283 Ghana Military Police operated as part of UNTAC in Cambodia. The UNTAC operation lasted two years, 1992−1993. After the long running Cambodia civil war ignited by external interventions, a resolution was accepted by the four warring factional parties. Operation UNTAC was the largest Ghanaian external operation since Ghana's first external military operation, ONUC in the Congo in the 1960s. Operation UNTAC and its contingent UNAMIC had a combined budget of more than $1.6 billion.
In 2012, closer military cooperation was agreed with the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In 2013, the Armed Forces agreed closer military cooperation with the China People's Liberation Army, and with the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Ghana Army
The Ghana Army is structured as follows:- The Northern Command with headquarters in Kumasi and the Southern Command with headquarters in Accra. In March 2000 these two commands were formed after a restructuring. Previously there were three brigades: 1st Infantry Brigade, 2nd Infantry Brigade and Support Services Brigade.
- 6 Infantry Battalions of the Ghana Regiment. 3rd Battalion of Infantry, 4th Battalion of Infantry and 6th Battalion of Infantry in the Northern Command, 1st Battalion of Infantry, 2nd Battalion of Infantry and 5th Battalion of Infantry in the Southern Command.
- two Airborne companies attached to Northern Command; Airborne Force
- 64 Infantry Regiment, a presidential guard force
- 1 Training Battalion
- One Staff College
- Reconnaissance Armoured Regiment
- Defence Signal Regiment
- Two Engineer Regiments
- 66 Artillery Regiment
From that point its units included 49 Engineer Regiment, the Ghana Military Police, Defence Signal Regiment, FRO, Forces Pay Office, 37 Military Hospital, Defence Mechanical Transport Battalion, Base Ordnance Depot, Base Ammunition Depot, Base Supply Depot, Base Workshop, Armed Forces Printing Press, Armed Forces Fire Service, the Ghana Armed Forces Central Band, Ghana Armed Forces Institution, 1 Forces Movement Unit, 5 Forces Movement Unit, Base Engineer Technical Services, 5 Garrison Education Centre, the Armed Forces Museum, Army Signals Training School, and the Armed Forces Secondary Technical School. By 2016 the Forces Pay Office had been upgraded to the Forces Pay Regiment.
The Armed Forces uses imported weaponry and locally manufactured secondary equipment. M16 rifles, AK-47s, Type 56 assault rifles, ballistic vests and personal armor are standard issue, while much of the secondary equipment used by the Army and Air Force are manufactured internally by the Defence Industries Holding Company. External suppliers include Russia, Iran, and the People's Republic of China.
Peacekeeping Operations
The Armed Forces are heavily committed to international peacekeeping operations. Ghana prefers to send its troops to operations in Africa. However the United Nations has used Ghanaian forces in countries as diverse as Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo, Georgia, Nepal, Cambodia and Lebanon. Currently, Ghanaian armed forces are posted to United Nations peacekeeping missions in:Ghana armed forces provided the first Force Commander of the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group, Lieutenant General Arnold Quainoo. Quainoo led the force from July 1990 to September 1990.
Ghana Armed Forces peacekeepers have many roles: patrolling, as military police, electoral observers, de-miners, ceasefire monitors, humanitarian aid workers, and even special forces or frogmen against insurgents.
Ghana Air Force
The Ghana Air Force is headquartered in Burma Camp in Accra, and operates from bases in Accra, Tamale and Sekondi-Takoradi.The GHF military doctrine and stated mission is to perform counterinsurgency operations within Ghana or externally and to provide logistical support to the Ghana Army.Ghana Navy
The Ghana Navy's mission is to provide defence of Ghana and its territorial waters, fishery protection, exclusive economic zone, and internal security on Lake Volta. It is also tasked with resupplying GA peacekeepers in Africa, fighting maritime criminal activities such as Piracy, disaster and humanitarian relief operations, and evacuation of Ghanaian citizens and other nationals from troubled spots. In 1994 the Navy was re-organized into an Eastern command, with headquarters at Tema, and a Western command, with headquarters at Sekondi-Takoradi.GAF Business
GAF Military private bank
The Ghana Armed Forces, in addition to owning its own arms industry weapons and military technology and equipment manufacturer, operates its own private bank. The military private bank is sited at Burma Camp and serves Ghanaian military personnels and their civilian counterparts.Military hospitals
The GAF has two hospitals, the 37 Military Hospital in Accra and the Kumasi Military Hospital in the north. The 37 Military Hospital has recently undergone expansion and its facilities include a twenty-four-hour Emergency Department.The GAF main military hospital has been organized into departments and divisions, which created structure within the establishment. The Divisions and Departments are developed and joined according to medical, paramedical and administrative lines and each of these units has its own departmental head. The GAF military hospital is staffed by GAF military personnel and also houses a medical education training facility. 37 Military Hospital is also accredited for post-graduate medical education teaching. Vyacheslav Lebedev, Chairman of the Supreme Court of Russia, expressed gratitude following his emergency treatment at the hospital.
Cadets and schools
The Ghana Army operates a Cadet Corps for GAF Cadets whom go on to Military Education and Training and Recruit Training graduation from the GAF Military Academy for Army Recruit and Seaman Recruit prior to enlistment into the Army, Navy or Air Force.Training institutions include the Ghana Military Academy and the Ghana Army-sponsored Cadet Corps. Also located in Accra is the internationally-funded Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, which is not part of the Armed Forces but provides a wide ranging of peace operations training, including to GAF personnel.