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Ghana National Security
Ghana - Unavailable
Ceremonial state sword, symbol of chiefly authority
and power among the Akan
GHANA HAS A RICH AND VARIED military history. During the
nineteenth century, the Asante, one of the major ethnic groups in
Ghana, relied on military power to extend rule throughout most of
what eventually became the modern state of Ghana. The Asante also
engaged in a series of military campaigns against the British (in
1873, 1896, and 1900) for control of the country's political and
economic systems. After the British established a protectorate,
thousands of Ghanaians served in the Royal West African Frontier
Force. In the two world wars of the twentieth century, tens of
thousands of Ghanaians fought with the Western allies. From 1945
until 1957, the British used the Ghanaian army to maintain internal
security.
At independence in 1957, Ghana's armed forces were among the
best in Africa. However, President Kwame Nkrumah (1960-66)
gradually destroyed this heritage by transforming the armed forces
from a traditional military organization into one that he hoped
would facilitate the growth of African socialism and PanAfricanism , would aid in the fight against neocolonialism, and
would help implement Nkrumah's radical foreign policy. Nkrumah also
Africanized the officer corps as rapidly as possible. In 1966 the
armed forces moved to end its use as a political tool by
overthrowing Nkrumah. For the next twenty-five years, the military
repeatedly intervened in the political process to stabilize Ghana
and to improve the country's economy. In 1992, however, Ghana's
military regime presided over multiparty elections, which the
regime hoped would return the country to a parliamentary system of
government.
The Ghanaian military, with a personnel strength of 7,200 in
1993, helped to maintain internal security and to preserve Ghana's
territorial integrity. Throughout the 1980s, the generally proWestern armed forces relied on a variety of sources for foreign
military assistance, including the United States, Italy, Libya, and
the Soviet Union. Organized into a 5,000-member army, a 1,200-
member air force, and a 1,000-member navy, the military was capable
of performing its missions. During the 1980s and early 1990s,
moreover, the Ghanaian armed forces and some police personnel
participated in United Nations peacekeeping operations in Cambodia,
Croatia, Western Sahara, Iraq/Kuwait, Rwanda, and Lebanon. Ghana
also contributed troops to the Economic Community of West African
States Monitoring Group peacekeeping force in Liberia.
Data as of November 1994
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