| Ghana Army | |
|---|---|
Gate sign at Southern Command, Teshie Ridge, Accra |
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| Founded | 1959-present |
| Country | Ghana |
| Part of | Ghanaian Ministry of Defence and Central Defence Headquarters |
| Commanders | |
| Chief of the Army Staff | Major General J N Adinkrah |
The Ghana Army is the army of the West African nation of Ghana. In 1959, two years after the Gold Coast obtained independence as Ghana, the Gold Coast Regiment was withdrawn from the Royal West African Frontier Force, and formed the basis for the new Ghanaian Army. Together with the Ghanaian air force and navy, the Army makes up the Ghana Armed Forces, controlled by The Ministry of Defence and Central Defence Headquarters, both located in Accra.
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The command structure for the army forces in Ghana originally stemmed from the British Army's West Africa Command. Lieutenant General Lashmer Whistler was the penultimate commander holding the command from 1951 to 1953. Lt Gen Sir Otway Herbert, who left the West Africa Command in 1955, was the last commander.[1] The command was dissolved on 1 July 1956.[2]
In 1957, the Ghana Army consisted of its headquarters, support services, three battalions of infantry and a reconnaissance squadron with armoured cars. Total strength was approximately 5,700 men.[3] Partially due to an over-supply of British officers after the end of the Second World War, only 12% of the officer corps in Ghana, 29 officers out a total of 209 in all, were Ghanaians at independence.[4] Under Major General Alexander Paley, there were almost 200 British officers and 230 warrant officers and senior commissioned officers posted throughout the Ghanaian Army.
Ghanaian Prime Minister Kwame Nkrumah wished to rapidly expand and Africanise the army in order to support his Pan-African and anti-colonial ambitions. Thus in 1961, 4th and 5th Battalions were established, and in 1964 6th Battalion was established, from a parachute unit originally raised in 1963.[5] Second Infantry Brigade Group was established in 1961 to command the two battalions raised that year. However, 3rd Battalion was disbanded in February 1961 after an August 1960 mutiny while on Operation des Nations Unies au Congo service at Tshikapa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[6] The changeover from British to Ghanaian officers meant a sudden lowering of experience levels. The Ghanaian commanding officer of 3rd Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel David Hansen, had on appointment as battalion commander only seven years of military experience, compared to the more normal twenty years' of experience for battalion commanders in Western armies. He was badly beaten by his troops during the mutiny.[7] 4th Battalion was raised under a British commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Douglas Cairns, from the single company of the 3rd Battalion that had not mutinied.
Initial British planning by Paley before his departure in 1959 had provided for all British officers to be withdrawn by 1970; however, under pressure from Nkrumah, Paley's successor Major General Henry Alexander revised the plans, seeing all British personnel to depart by 1962. However, in September 1961, Alexander and all other British officers and men serving with the Ghanaian armed forces were abruptedly dismissed.[8] Nkrumah was determined to indigenize his armed forces fully, after some years of accelerated promotion of Ghanaian personnel.
Simon Baynham says that “the wholesale shambles which surely must have resulted from simply expelling the expatriate contract and seconded officers was averted by the arrival of Canadian military technicians and training officers.”[9] Canadian training team personnel were assigned to the Military Academy (1961-1968), the Military Hospital, as Brigade Training Officers (1961-1968), to the air force, and later the Ministry of Defence (1963-1968), Ghana Army Headquarters (1963-1968) and the Airborne School.[10]
Matters deteriorated further after the coup that deposed Nkrumah. In July 1967, Canadian Colonel James Bond, the Canadian military attache, asked to write a report on how Canada could further assist the Ghanaian armed forces, wrote that 'during 1966 the preoccupation of.. senior officers with their civilian duties as members of the National Liberation Council and as regional administrators, resulted in an unconscious neglect of the welfare of the Army.'[11] Available able intermediate level officers had been assigned civilian administrative duties, leaving the army short.
Ghana has contributed forces to numerous UN and ECOWAS operations, including in the Congo, Lebanon, and Liberia (ECOMOG and UNMIL). Ghana contributed UN peacekeepers in UNAMIR during the Rwandan Genocide. In his book Shake Hands with the Devil, Canadian force commander Romeo Dallaire gave the Ghanaian soldiers high credit for their work and effort in the conflict. The Ghanaian contingent lost 3 soldiers in the conflict.
The Ghana army is divided into two brigade sized "commands":
The Ghanaian Army consists of three distinct infantry elements:
The army has a number of units designated as combat support, including its armour, artillery, engineers and signals:
The head of the Ghana Army was formerly referred to as the army commander but now has the title above. The list of former heads lies below.[12]
It is similar to the British army ranks structure They are arranged in descending order:
Officer ranks
Enlisted ranks
HP-35 Belgium
S&W .38 No-2 MK-I United States
H&K MP-5A3 Germany
Sterling MK-IV United Kingdom
2,300 M-15A2 United States
200 M-15A-2 United StatesC
7,751 M-16A-2 United States
6,000 M-16A-1 United States
Colt M-4 Carbine United States
H&K HK-33A Germany
AKM Soviet Union
AKMS Soviet Union
FN-FAL 0050\L-1A1 Belgium United Kingdom
12,000 H&K G-3\ G-3A-1 \ G-3A-3 Germany
Model 500ATP-6 Shoutgun
MAG 60-00 \ L37A-2 Coaxil Belgium United Kingdom
AA-52 Char No.1 France
Browning M-1919A-4 \ L-3A-3 \ L-3A-4 United States
Bren MK-II United Kingdom
Browning M-2HB United States
81mm mortars United Kingdom
120mm mortars Tempella M73 Finland
M-1 \ PASGT \ German 826 \ Marte \ MK-6 Helmets United States Germany
15 Alvis FV-601 Saladin 76mm 6x6 ARVs-Out of Service United Kingdom
30 Daimler FV-702 Ferret MK-II\II 4x4 ARVs-Out of Service United Kingdom
3 Engesa EE-9 Cascavel 90mm 6x6 ARVs Brazil
6 Gaz BTR-60 8x8 APCs Soviet Union
M-113 Gevin APCs-with UN units United States UN
Sisu XA-180 6x6 APCs-with UN units Finland UN
61 Mowag LAV Pirahna 4x4\6x6\8x8 with 30 Oerlikon KAA 204GK 20mm& M-811 25mm guns\Dragar turret Swiss
39 Armscor Ratel-20(14)\Ratel-90(25) with 20\90mm guns 6x6 AIFVs\ARVs South Africa
4 Armscor Ratel-81 SPM with 81mm mortar 6x6 APCs South Africa
4 Casspir MPV South Africa
Rinkhals MPV South Africa
20 Tactica APCs South Africa
48 ZFB-05 APCs China
RM-70 122mm MRLs Czech Republic
3 Type -81 122mm MRLs China
5 Type -63 107mm MRLs China D-30 122mm towed howitzers Soviet Union
28 IMI M-65 120mm heavy mortar Israel
EQ1093F6D 5ton trucks{ China
Land Rover Defender United Kingdom 4x4
20-50 Carl Gustav M-2-550 84mm Sweden RCLs
20 RPG-7V Light ATRLs Soviet Union
100 Law MK-80 Light ATRLs United Kingdom
4-16 ZPU-4 4x4 KPV 14.5mm AAG Soviet Union
4-8 ZU-23-2 23mm AAGs Soviet Union
SA-7B Strela-II MANPADs Soviet Union
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