Arnold Quainoo | |
---|---|
Born | 20th century Ghana |
Allegiance | Ghana |
Service | Army |
Rank | Lieutenant General |
Commands | Chief of the Defence Staff ECOMOG Commander Chief of Army Staff |
Lieutenant General Arnold Quainoo is 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]
The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) is the state military organisation of Ghana, consisting of the Army (GA), Navy (GN), and Ghana Air Force.
The Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) are the armed forces of the Republic of Liberia. Tracing its origins to a militia that was formed by the first black colonists in what is now Liberia, it was founded as the Liberian Frontier Force in 1908, and retitled in 1956. For almost all of its history, the AFL has received considerable materiel and training assistance from the United States. For most of the 1941–89 period, training was largely provided by U.S. advisers, though this assistance has not prevented the same generally low levels of effectiveness common to most of the armed forces in the developing world.
The Nigerian Armed Forces (NAF) are the military forces of Nigeria. The forces consist of three service branches: the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Navy, and Nigerian Air Force. The President of Nigeria functions as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, exercising his constitutional authority through the Ministry of Defence, which is responsible for the management of the military and its personnel. The operational head of the AFN is the Chief of Defence Staff, who is subordinate to the Nigerian Defence Minister. With a force of more than 230,000 active personnel, the Nigerian military is one of the largest uniformed combat services in Africa. According to Global Firepower, the Nigerian Armed Forces are the fourth-most powerful military in Africa, and ranked 35th on its list, internationally.
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Samuel Kanyon Doe was a Liberian politician and military officer who served as the 21st President of Liberia from 1986 to 1990. He ruled Liberia as Chairman of the People's Redemption Council (PRC) from 1980 to 1986 and then as president from 1986 to 1990.
The First Liberian Civil War was the first of two civil wars within the West African nation of Liberia which lasted between 1989 and 1997. President Samuel Doe's regime of totalitarianism and widespread corruption led to calls for withdrawal of the support of the United States, by the late 1980s. The National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) led by Charles Taylor invaded Liberia from the Ivory Coast to overthrow Doe in December 1989 and gained control over most of the country within a year. Doe was captured and executed by the Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL), a splinter faction of the NPFL led by Prince Johnson, in September 1990. The NPFL and INPFL fought each other for control of the capital city, Monrovia and against the Armed Forces of Liberia and pro-Doe United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy. Peace negotiations and foreign involvement led to a ceasefire in 1995 but fighting continued until a peace agreement between the main factions occurred in August 1996. Taylor was elected President of Liberia following the 1997 Liberian general election and entered office in August of the same year.
The Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) was a West African multilateral armed force established by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). ECOMOG was a formal arrangement for separate armies to work together. It was largely supported by personnel and resources of the Nigerian Armed Forces, with sub-battalion strength units contributed by other ECOWAS members — Ghana, Guinea, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, Liberia, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and others.
Adetunji Idowu Ishola Olurin mni was a Nigerian general who served as the military Governor of Oyo State from 1985 to 1988 and Field Commander of ECOMOG Peacekeeping Force in Liberia from 1992 to 1993 during the First Liberian Civil War. Olurin retired from service in 1993, and was a member of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He was administrator of Ekiti State from 19 October 2006 until 27 April 2007.
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Lieutenant General Albert Kwesi Ocran was a soldier and politician. He was a member of the Presidential Commission of Ghana between 1969 and 1970. He is a former Chief of the Defence Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces and was a member of the National Liberation Council (NLC) military government in Ghana.
The Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) is the professional head of the Ghana Armed Forces. He is thus responsible for the administration and the operational control and command of the Ghana military. The CDS is a member of the Armed Forces Council. This council advice the President of Ghana on matters of policy relating to defence and also regulates the administration of the Armed Forces. It also advises the President on the promotion of all officers above the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel or its equivalent.
Lieutenant General Joseph Boateng Danquah was the twenty-seventh Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of the Ghana Armed Forces.
Lieutenant General Seth Kofi Obeng is a former Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of the Ghana Armed Forces. He was once also the Commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. He is also a special adviser on African Union matters to the President of Ghana.
The Nigerian Army (NA) is the land force of the Nigerian Armed Forces. It is the largest component of the Nigerian Armed Forces. The President of Nigeria is the Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff, who is the highest ranking military officer of the Nigerian Army. It is governed by the Nigerian Army Council (NAC). The Nigerian Army is operationally and geographically divided into ten divisions, the basic field formation. The army has been involved in operations throughout the country, most especially during the Nigerian Civil War, and has undertaken major operations abroad. Nigerian Army officers have served as chiefs of defence in other countries, with Brigadier General Maxwell Khobe serving as Sierra Leone chief of staff in 1998–1999, and Nigerian officers acting as Command Officer-in-Charge of the Armed Forces of Liberia from at least 2007. The Nigerian Army is globally renowned for its professionalism and experience in counterterrorism and counterinsurgency; in 2022, the Nigerian Army won the award for the "Best Land Force in National Defence in Africa" in Banjul, Gambia.
Lieutenant General Chikadibia Isaac ObiakorMSS DSS CMH IG QS psc(+) GFISMN NPOM is a retired Nigerian army lieutenant general who until 2010 served as Military Adviser, Assistant Secretary General Office of Military Affairs, United Nations Department of Peace Keeping Operations (UNDPKO), UN Headquarters New York. He retired officially from the Nigerian Army in 2011.
Major General Alfred Claude Nelson-Williams, GCOR is a retired Major General in the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF). Nelson-Williams previously served as Chief of Defense Staff for Sierra Leone from 2008 to 2010.
Suraj Alao Abdurrahman, was a Nigerian Army general who served as the Command Officer in Charge of the Armed Forces of Liberia, with former Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as the Commander-in-Chief. According to then President Johnson Sirleaf, General Abdurrahman "was an exceedingly exceptional gentleman officer whose contributions lifted the Armed Forces of Liberia to professional greatness and emplace our military amongst UN peacekeepers”.
John Hezekiah Bowen was an officer of the Armed Forces of Liberia.
Lieutenant General Winston Mensa-Wood was a former Ghanaian military officer and served as the twenty-third Chief of Defence Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces from June 1990 to March 1992. He took over from Lieutenant General Arnold Quainoo but died in office. He was replaced by Air Marshal Achilles Harry Kwami Dumashie. Prior to that, he was Chief of Army Staff from 1987 to 1990.
Maxwell Mitikishe Khobe was a Nigerian army brigadier general who was the commander of the ECOMOG Peacekeeping Force in Sierra Leone from 1997 to 1998, and the Chief of the Defence Staff of Sierra Leone from 1998 to 2000.