Napoleon Yaovi Richard Ashley-Lassen (born 29 March 1934) was a Chief of the Defence Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces. He was also twice Chief of Air Staff of the

Ghana Air Force The Ghana Air Force (GHF) is the aerial warfare organizational military branch of the Ghanaian Armed Forces (GAF). The GHF, along with the Ghanaian army (GA) and Ghanaian navy (GN), make up the Ghanaian Armed Forces (GAF), which are controlle ...

. He was also a member of 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 p ...

(NRC), formed after the overthrow of the

Busia government This is a listing of the ministers who served in Busia's Progress Party government during the Second Republic of Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Gu ...

in 1972.

Career

Ashley-Lassen was born in Port Harcourt, Nigeria in 1934. He was commissioned into the Ghana Army. At one stage, he served as a pilot ferrying Ghanaian troops to and from the

Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

during the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

peace keeping exercise there. He was appointed Chief of Air Staff in 1968 when the

National Liberation Council 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 For ...

military government was in power. He served a second brief term between December 1971 and January 1972. Following the overthrow of the

on 13 January 1972, he was appointed as the Chief of the Defence Staff, a position he held until December 1974.

Politics

Following the 13 January 1972

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

led by then Colonel Acheampong, he was appointed a member of the ruling

military government.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashley-Lassen, Napoleon Yaovi Richard Living people Ghanaian soldiers Ghana Air Force air marshals People of the Congo Crisis 1934 births People from Port Harcourt