Lieutenant General Winston Mensa-Wood is a former

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 ...

military officer and served as the twenty-third Chief of 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 ...

from June 1990 to March 1992. He took over from Lieutenant General Arnold Quainoo but died in office. He was replaced by Air Marshal Achilles Harry Kwami Dumashie. Prior to that, he was Chief of Army Staff from 1987 to 1990.

Early life and education

Mensa-Wood was born at

Cape Coast Cape Coast is a city, fishing port, and the capital of Cape Coast Metropolitan District and Central Region of Ghana. It is one of the country's most historic cities, a World Heritage Site, home to the Cape Coast Castle, with the Gulf of Guinea ...

in the then

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 ...

, now Ghana. His secondary education was at the Ghana National College where he completed his West African Schools Certificate Examination in 1961.

Career

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 In 1959, two years after the Gold Coast obtained independence as Ghana, the Gold Coast Regiment was withdrawn from the Royal West Af ...

in 1961. After returning from the V. I. Lenin Military-Political Academy in October 1962, he was commissioned as a

Second 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 ...

. He entered the Ghana Military Academy in 1963, passing out on 30 March 1964 as full lieutenant. He attended a Royal Engineers officers course at

Chatham-Kent Chatham-Kent ( 2021 population: 104,316)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 ...

. He was commissioned Captain in March 1967 and the officer commanding the Number Two Squadron Field Engineers Regiment. He was promoted to Major in 1972. He also studied Advanced Engineering in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. He became a Lieutenant Colonel in July 1977. In 1982, as Colonel, he was appointed the Director-General (Logistics) at the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

. He later became Commander of the Headquarters Support Services Brigade. He attained the rank of Major General prior to becoming the Commandant of the Military Academy and Training School at

Teshie Teshie is a coastal town in the Ledzokuku Municipal District, a district in the Greater Accra Region of southeastern Ghana. Teshie is the ninth most populous settlement in Ghana, with a population of 171,875 people. Politics Teshie is in the ...

, Accra. Mensa Wood was a Colonel at the time he was tasked by the

Provisional National Defence Council The Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) was the name of the Ghanaian government after the People's National Party's elected government was overthrown by Jerry Rawlings, the former head of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council, in a coup ...

(PNDC) to head the Cocoa Evacuation Task Force in January 1982. This was created after the overthrow of the

Limann government This is a listing of the ministers who served in Limann's People's National Party government during the Third Republic of Ghana. The Third Republic was inaugurated on 24 September 1979. It ended with the coup on 31 December 1981, which brought t ...

because mismanagement had led to a large part of the 1981-1982 crop was trapped in the interior of the country as a result of bad roads and lack of vehicles.

Role in government

In June 1987, he was appointed Army Commander and also a member of the PNDC, the ruling military government in Ghana. In 1990, he became the General Officer Commanding the Ghana Armed Forces. He was promoted Lieutenant General three months before his death.

Death

Mensa-Wood died at the

Cromwell Hospital The Cromwell Hospital is a private sector hospital located in the South Kensington area of London. It is operated by international healthcare company Bupa. History The hospital, which was designed by Holder Mathias, was established by Bank of Cr ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

from

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...

. He was survived by his wife and five children.

Early life and education

Career

Role in government

Death

References

See also