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) {{Africa-mil-bio-stub