The President's Own Guard Regiment (POGR) is an

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...

of 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 In 1959, two years after the Gold Coast obtained independence as Ghana, the Gold Coast Regiment was withdrawn from the Royal West Af ...

(GA).

POGR history

The POGR infantry regiment was founded in 1960 as the Presidential Guard Regiment following Ghana's independence when

Kwame Nkrumah Kwame Nkrumah (born 21 September 190927 April 1972) was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He was the first Prime Minister and President of Ghana, having led the Gold Coast to independence from Britain in 1957. An in ...

increased the Presidential Bodyguard from a

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...

to a full regiment. Initially, POGR was made up of soldiers who had become unfit for operational service, and was intended to act as a ceremonial unit. However, following attempts on his life, Nkrumah ordered that the POGR be expanded and reinforced, renaming it as the President's Own Guard Regiment (POGR), and bringing it under the direct control of the Presidential Detail Department. In 1965, the POGR was removed from the command structure of the

(GA), being accountable directly to the President of Ghana. By February 1966, the POGR consisted of two battalions and almost 1,200 officers and men, trained by

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

advisers.

POGR operations

Because of the POGR's status (it was better trained, equipped, paid and clothed than the regular Ghana army), significant resentment was directed at its

military personnel Military personnel are members of the state's armed forces. Their roles, pay, and obligations differ according to their military branch (army, navy, marines, air force, space force, and coast guard), rank (officer, non-commissioned officer, or e ...

, which led to violence directed against it by the

(GA) during the coup that overthrew Kwame Nkrumah. After this, the POGR was reintegrated into the Ghana Army (GA). Today, the POGR consists of a single

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

. The POGR's primary function remains as a

bodyguard A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects a person or a group of people — usually witnesses, high-ranking public officials or officers, w ...

to the

President of Ghana The president of the Republic of Ghana is the elected head of state and head of government of Ghana, as well as commander-in-chief of the Ghana Armed Forces. The current president of Ghana is Nana Akufo-Addo, who won the 2020 presidential elec ...

and to defend the Presidential Palace in

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

References

{{reflist Regiments of Ghana Guards regiments Military units and formations established in 1960

POGR history

POGR operations

See also

References