Arnold Quainoo

Last updated

Arnold Quainoo
Nickname(s)Buffalo Soldier
Born20th century
Ghana
DiedDecember 2nd, 2024
AllegianceGhana
Service / branchArmy
Rank Lieutenant General
Commands Chief of the Defence Staff
ECOMOG Commander
Chief of Army Staff

Lieutenant General Arnold Quainoo was a Ghanaian former military officer and served as the Chief of Defence Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces from August 1983 to September 1989. [1] He took over from Flight Lieutenant J. J. Rawlings and handed over to Lieutenant General Winston Mensa-Wood. [1] He was also the first commander of the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) which intervened in Liberia to help end the civil war. [2] He also served twice as Army Commander, first in 1979 following the coup-d'état by the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council which overthrew the Supreme Military Council. He was replaced when the Limann government was elected. He was however re-appointed as Chief of Army Staff following the coup by the Provisional National Defence Council [3] and later as General Officer Commanding the Ghana Armed Forces. [4]

In 2014, Quainoo denied any responsibility for the death of Liberian President Samuel Doe. [5]

Quainoo died at the 37 Military Hospital in Accra on Monday, December 2nd, 2024, at the age of 82. [6]

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References

  1. 1 2 "Past General Officers Commanding /Chiefs of the Defence Staff". www.gaf.mil.gh. Archived from the original on 8 April 2013. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  2. Adekeye Adebajo, 'Liberia's Civil War: Nigeria, ECOMOG, and Regional Security in West Africa,' Lynne Rienner/International Peace Academy, 2002, p.78-79
  3. "Past Army Commanders / Chiefs of Army Staff". Official website. Ghana Armed Forces. Archived from the original on 8 April 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  4. "Past General Officers Commanding /Chiefs of the Defence Staff". Official website. Ghana Armed Forces. Archived from the original on 8 April 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  5. "West African state plotted Doe's death – General Quainoo". Ghana Business News. 20 December 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  6. "Liberia: Former Ghana Armed Forces Chief of Defense Staff and ECOMOG First Force Commander Lt. Gen. Arnold Quainoo, Dies at 82". Front Page Africa Online. Retrieved 3 January 2025.
Military offices
Preceded by Chief of Army Staff
1979
Succeeded by
Preceded by Chief of Army Staff
1982–1987
Succeeded by
Preceded by Chief of Defence Staff
1983– 1989
Succeeded by
New title ECOMOG Commander
1990
Succeeded by
Major General Joshua Dogonyaro