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Ghana The Development of the Modern Army
After independence, Ghana opted out of the RWAFF. According to
Nkrumah, this action was necessary because the RWAFF was "one of
the trappings of colonialism." The Ghanaian army had grown in size
and complexity, moreover, and the government created a separate air
force and navy. The military's ostensible mission was to aid the
national police in maintaining internal security; however, Nkrumah
wanted to use the armed forces to buttress his foreign policy and
Pan-Africanist goals.
British officers who served in the Ghanaian armed forces
thwarted Nkrumah's plans to use the military as a political tool.
As a result, in September 1961 Nkrumah dismissed all British
military personnel and ordered the Africanization of the armed
forces. By removing the British from command positions, Nkrumah
destroyed an apolitical safeguard and exposed the military to
political manipulation. However, much of the British-trained
Ghanaian officer corps resisted Nkrumah's attempts to indoctrinate
them with the political ideology of the CPP. Moreover, the officer
corps shunned the political commissars whom Nkrumah had introduced
into all units.
To break the power of the traditional Ghanaian military
establishment, Nkrumah created his own private army in violation of
the country's constitution. The Soviet Union supported this effort
by providing military advisers and weaponry. After an unsuccessful
attempt on his life, Nkrumah ordered the expansion of the
presidential guard company to regimental strength. On the
recommendation of Soviet security advisers, Nkrumah also added a
civilian unit to the bodyguard. The military and civilian wings
formed the Presidential Guard Department. In 1963 Nkrumah changed
the name of this organization to the Presidential Detail
Department. By February 1966, this unit's First Guard Regiment
included a 1,500-member battalion, and the Second Guard Regiment
was in the process of being formed and trained under Soviet
advisers.
The Presidential Detail Department also supervised secret
storage depots and training camps for Nkrumah's constantly
expanding private army. These facilities were located at Elmina
Castle, Akosombo, Afianya, and Okponglo. After Nkrumah's downfall,
Ghanaian authorities discovered an array of weapons, including
heavy machine guns, mortars, and artillery, at these sites. AntiNkrumah elements insisted that such weaponry, which exceeded the
needs of the Presidential Detail Department, was destined for
Nkrumah's private army.
Apart from trying to create a parallel military establishment,
Nkrumah also established a multifaceted intelligence apparatus. In
early 1963, one of Nkrumah's closest supporters, Ambrose Yankey,
established the Special Intelligence Unit to monitor the activities
of antigovernment individuals and groups. By 1966 this unit
included 281 people, all of whom reportedly received training from
Soviet and other communist advisers. Another intelligence unit,
Department III, Military Intelligence, was not part of the Ministry
of Defence. Instead, its task was to check independently on the
loyalty of the regular armed forces. Department III, Military
Intelligence, maintained an interrogation center at Burma Camp. The
Bureau for Technical Assistance conducted espionage in other
African countries. Additionally, on October 1, 1965, the bureau
established an all-African intelligence service known as the
Special African Service (also known as the Technical Unit), which
was designed to penetrate the intelligence services of other
African countries. By 1966 this organization had grown from forty
to sixty-seven personnel.
Data as of November 1994
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