Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Lawrence Aboagye Okai (1934-2017) was a

Ghanaian Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...

army officer. He was the Chief of the Defence Staff of the

Ghana Armed Forces The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) is the unified armed force of Ghana, consisting of the Army (GA), Navy (GN), and Ghana Air Force. The Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces is the president of Ghana, who is also the supreme military commander ...

. He also served on the Supreme Military Council (SMC) of the government led by General Acheampong.

Army career

Lawrence Okai volunteered for service in the Gold Coast Regiment of the

Royal West African Frontier Force The West African Frontier Force (WAFF) was a multi-battalion field force, formed by the British Colonial Office in 1900 to garrison the West African colonies of Nigeria, Gold Coast, Sierra Leone and Gambia. In 1928, it received royal recognition ...

. He was selected to be trained as officer at the

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial officer training centre. It is located in the town of ...

(RMAS), in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and was commissioned on 16 December 1955. In 1958, he became one of the original officers of the

Ghana Regiment The Ghana Regiment is an infantry regiment that forms the main fighting element of the Ghanaian Army (GA). History The regiment was formed in 1879 as the Gold Coast Constabulary, from personnel of the Hausa Constabulary of Southern Nigeria, to per ...

, when the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

gained its independence. Okai served in the

Ghana Army 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 Af ...

, and rose from

2nd Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

to the rank of

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

. General Okai was then chosen to be overall commander of the Armed Forces of Ghana, and was further promoted on appointment: he was Chief of the Defence Staff from December 1974 to November 1976.

Politics

After the

National Redemption Council 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. Duration of rule The NRC came into po ...

took power, it formed a Supreme Military Council (SMC) to provide the executive government. The SMC was composed of the service chiefs and as the head of the armed forces, General Okai became a member of the military government. He served in the junta until he retired as Chief of the Defence Staff in November 1976, when he was succeeded in both roles by Lieutenant General Fred Akuffo.

Retirement

In retirement, he became active in the

Veterans Association of Ghana The Veterans Association of Ghana is an association of former servicemen and women of the Gold Coast Regiment and the Ghana Armed Forces. It started originally as the Gold Coast Legion was formed in 1944 as a branch of what was then known as the ...

, and later served as the Chairman of its National Council. He died in October 2017 and was buried, with military honours, in January 2018.

Sources

Ghana Armed Forces website

Ghana Home Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Okai, Lawrence A. Living people Ghanaian soldiers 1934 births