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 ...
Stephen Joseph Asamoa Otu (23 October 1915 – 23 October 1979) was a former
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 was the first
Ghana
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 the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
ian officer to serve in this capacity.
Career
Stephen Otu 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 ...
. His service marked him out as a potential officer and, in 1947, he was posted to an Officer Cadet Training Unit (OCTU) 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 ...
to undertake a selection course. He passed out successfully and was commissioned on 1 May 1948. A decade later, 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 pe ...
, 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.
Initially a Company Commander (Major), he was soon promoted to command a Battalion, as a Lieutenant-Colonel. He continued through the higher ranks until, in October 1962, he became only the second Ghanaian to become the
Chief of Army Staff, a position he occupied until July 1965 when the army headquarters became annexed to the Ministry of Defence. In 1961 the remaining British Army personnel left Ghana and Major-General S.J.A. Otu succeeded
Major General Henry Templer Alexander,
a British officer on loan, taking overall command as the first Ghanaian officer to become the Chief of Defence Staff of the Republic.
References
Ghanaian soldiers
1979 deaths
1915 births
Chiefs of Army Staff (Ghana)
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