C. D. Benni | |
---|---|
Member of the National Redemption Council | |
In office 13 January 1972 –9 October 1975 | |
President | Colonel Acheampong |
Commissioner for NRC Affairs | |
In office January 1972 –c. 1974 | |
President | Colonel Acheampong |
Preceded by | T. D. Brodie-Mends |
Succeeded by | Colonel C. R. Tachie-Menson |
Ambassador to Togo and Benin | |
In office 13 January 1972 –9 October 1975 | |
President | Lt. General Akuffo |
Ambassador to Liberia | |
President | Colonel Acheampong |
Personal details | |
Born | Chemogo Dodzil Benni 15 March 1939 Nandom,Ghana |
Profession | Soldier |
Military service | |
Allegiance | Ghana Armed Forces |
Branch/service | Ghana Army |
Years of service | 1959–1975 |
Rank | Lieutenant Colonel |
Unit | Third Infantry Battalion |
Commands | Commander |
Lieutenant Colonel Chemogo Dodzil Benni is a Ghanaian soldier,politician and diplomat. He was a member of the National Redemption Council (NRC) military government which ruled Ghana between January 1972 and October 1975.
Benni was born at Nandom,now in the Upper West Region of Ghana where the Dagaaba people are located. [1] His secondary school education was at the Government Secondary School at Tamale between 1954 and 1958.
Benni enlisted in the Ghana Army in 1959. He underwent training at the Ghana Military Academy at Teshie,near Accra. He then proceeded to the Indian Military Academy at Dehra Dun for further studies between 1960 and 1962. [1] He also studied at Fort Leavenworth in the United States. He later rose to become the commander of the Third Battalion of the Second Infantry Brigade (now Central Command of the Ghana Army). [1] He was deployed with Ghanaian troops for peacekeeping duties in the Congo with the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Congo in 1962 where he served as a platoon commander and then as an assistant liaison officer at the headquarters in Kinshasa.
On his return to Ghana,he was appointed company commander of the Fifth Infantry Battalion based at Accra. He was moved to the Ministry of Defence as the Deputy Assistant Adjutant-General in 1966. Benni then became the Brigade Major of the First Infantry Brigade group (now Southern Command) in Accra in 1967. In 1968,he was transferred to Tamale where he served at the Sixth Battalion. His final posting in the army was as Commander of the Third Infantry Battalion based at Sunyani,now in the Bono Region in 1970. [1]
Although Benni was not among the soldiers who initiated the 13 January 1972 coup d'état to overthrow the Busia government,he was one of the first to be appointed onto the original NRC. He was also made the Commissioner for NRC Affairs. [2] [3] In May 1973,he led the delegation which arranged for the return of the body of Kwame Nkrumah from Guinea to Ghana where Nkrumah had been living in exile since the coup of 24 February 1966.
He was dropped when the NRC was replaced by the Supreme Military Council to accommodate the most senior military officers in government. [4] He was also appointed the Commissioner for information in January 1972. [5]
During the era of the Supreme Military Council,Benni was appointed as Ghana's ambassador to Liberia and in 1979,reappointed as ambassador with concurrent accreditation to Togo and Benin. [6]
The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) is the unified armed force of Ghana,consisting of the Army (GA),Navy (GN),and Ghana Air Force.
Joseph Arthur Ankrah Born was a Ghanaian army general who was the head of state of Ghana from 1966 to 1969 in the position of Chairman of the National Liberation Council. Before becoming head of state,Ankrah served as the first commander of the Ghana Army. He was Ghana's first military head of state. Ankrah also served as Chairperson of the Organisation of African Unity from 24 February 1966 to 5 November 1966.
Lieutenant General Akwasi Amankwaa Afrifa Born was a Ghanaian soldier,farmer,traditional ruler and politician. He was the head of state of Ghana and leader of the military government in 1969 and then chairman of the Presidential Commission between 1969 and 1970. He continued as a farmer and political activist. He was elected a member of Parliament in 1979,but he was executed before he could take his seat. He was executed together with two other former heads of state,General Kutu Acheampong and General Fred Akuffo,and five other generals,in June 1979. He was also popularly referred to by his title Okatakyie Akwasi Amankwaa Afrifa and was in addition the abakomahene of Krobo in the Asante-Mampong Traditional Area of the Ashanti Region of Ghana.
Major General Nathan Apea Aferi was a soldier and politician in Ghana. He was a former Chief of the Defence Staff of Ghana. He also served briefly as Foreign Minister of Ghana.
John Ebenezer Samuel de Graft-Hayford (1912–2002) was Ghana's first Ghanaian Chief of Air Staff. He became the first indigenous Air Force Commander in Ghana and Black Sub-Saharan Africa. He was also acting Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) for a brief period in 1962.
The Ghana Army (GA) is the main ground warfare organizational military branch of the Ghanaian Armed Forces (GAF). 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 (GHF) and Ghanaian navy (GN),the Ghanaian army (GA) makes up the Ghanaian Armed Forces (GAF),controlled by the Ghanaian Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Central Defence Headquarters,both located in Greater Accra.
Lieutenant-General Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka Born was a Ghanaian military officer who was a member of the ruling National Liberation Council which came to power in Ghana in a military coup d'état on 24 February 1966. This overthrew the government of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah,the first president of the republic.
The National Liberation Council (NLC) led the Ghanaian government from 24 February 1966 to 1 October 1969. The body emerged from a coup d'état against the Nkrumah government carried out jointly by the Ghana Police Service and Ghana Armed Forces with collaboration from the Ghana Civil Service.
The National Redemption Council (NRC) was the ruling Ghana military government from 13 January 1972 to 9 October 1975. Its chairman was Colonel I. K. Acheampong,who was thus also the head of state of Ghana.
The Supreme Military Council (SMC) was the ruling government of Ghana from 9 October 1975 to 4 June 1979. Its chairman was Colonel I.K. Acheampong. He was also the Head of state of Ghana due to his chairmanship.
Colonel Kwame R. M. Baah was a soldier and politician. He was the Ghanaian foreign minister between 1972 and 1975.
Major General Robert Ebenezer Abossey Kotei was a soldier,politician and track and field athlete. He was once the Chief of Defence Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces and also a member of the Supreme Military Council that ruled Ghana between 1975 and 1979. He was executed in 1979,following a military coup. He also held the Ghanaian high jump record for many years.
Major General Daniel K. Addo is a former Chief of the Defence Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces. He is a Ghanaian soldier and politician.
Major General Neville Alexander Odartey-Wellington (1934–1979),the Chief of Staff of the Ghana Army until his death in a coup d'état. He was a native of Osu,Accra,and died in action leading loyal troops against revolting forces during the 4 June 1979 coup d'état in Ghana.
Anthony Hugh Selormey is a Ghanaian soldier and politician. He was one of the members of the National Redemption Council (NRC) which overthrew the Progress Party government of Kofi Abrefa Busia on 13 January 1972. He also served briefly in the Supreme Military Council government which followed the NRC.
Brigadier Joseph Edward Michel (1917-1961) was a Ghanaian soldier. He was one of the early commissioned officers in the Ghana Army.
Lieutenant Colonel Kwame Barney Agbo is a Ghanaian soldier and politician. He was a member of the National Redemption Council (NRC) which overthrew the government of Kofi Abrefa Busia on 13 January 1972.
Lt Col Kofi Dovia Habada was a Ghanaian army officer and politician. He was the Volta Regional Commissioner from 1972 to May 1973,and the Greater Accra Regional Commissioner from 1973 to October 1975.
William Adjei Thompson was a Ghanaian soldier and politician. He was the Greater Accra Regional Commissioner from 1975 to 1977,the Regional Commissioner for the Brong Ahafo Region from 1977 to 1978,and the Central Regional Commissioner from 1978 to June 1979. In 1985,he was reappointed Greater Accra Regional Minister and in 1986,appointed Regional Secretary for the Western Region. He remained in this position until April 1988 when he was made Greater Accra Regional Minister for a third time. He served in this capacity until 1991.
Victor Coker-Appiah is a Ghanaian soldier and politician. He served in various capacities in the National Redemption Council (NRC) military government led by Colonel I. K. Acheampong which overthrew the civilian elected government led by Kofi Abrefa Busia.