Background
He was born on March 2, 1937, at Dzolukope near Keta in the Volta Region.
He was born on March 2, 1937, at Dzolukope near Keta in the Volta Region.
Educated at the local Catholic Mission School and at Bishop Herman Secondary School, Kpandu, where he obtained the West African School Certificate in 1958.
Fulfilling a childhood ambition, he joined the army in April 1961 and, after a course at the Ghana Military Academy, Teshie, was commissioned in April 1962.
He did a Saladin course at the Royal Armoured Corps Centre at Bovington Camp, England and a company commander’s course. He was the first Ghanaian to do professional training in tank warfare at the Armour School, Fort Knox, in 1967. While in the United States, he did further courses in personnel management and studies of foreign armies at the US Intelligence School.
In Ghana he was for three years an instructor at the military academy at Teshie and is presently the commanding officer of the Recce Regiment, based near Accra.
One of the young officers who actually planned and organised the January 13 coup, he then spent a few days as an assistant to J. H. Cobbina, the Inspector General of Police. Then as Commissioner for Information and Broadcasting, he had the essential task of explaining the philosophy of the coup to the majority of the people. A few months later, in May 1972, he was chosen to tackle Ghana’s chronic problems in transport and communications, which had been sadly neglected under the civilian government. He was made Commissioner for Health on May 1, 1973.
A sincere, principled and frank speaking major, who is sometimes so outspoken that he surprises even his friends.
