Kofi Ampeah Woode
The Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) – Major General (Maj Gen) Bismarck Kwasi Onwona was celebrated on his first day at office by the Ghana Army Headquarters (AHQ), with a ceremonial guard, as Staff Officers took turns to pay compliments to the Army Commander.
The Quarter Guard was mounted at the main entrance of the AHQ on Thursday 1 February 2024, to herald the assumption of office of the newly appointed COAS, who succeeds Maj Gen Thomas Oppong-Peprah, who is now the Chief of the Defence Staff of GAF.
Maj Gen BK Onwona enlisted into the Ghana Military Academy in November 1985, and was commissioned on 14th August 1987 as part of Regular Career Course 27, an upon commission as a Second Lieutenant, he was posted to the Field Engineer Regiment as a Troop Commander.
He has served in the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) in various capacities such as include Adjutant, Field Engineer Regiment, Adjutant, 48 Engineer Regiment, Adjutant, Engineer Training School, Officer Commanding, 48 Engineer Regiment and Instructor at the Ghana Military Academy, and served as the Second-in-Command of the 48 Engineer Regiment from June 2004 – January 2006.
He served as a Directing Staff at the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College (GAFCSC) from 2006 – 2008 and again from 2009 – 2012, Directing Staff at the Command and Staff College, Jaji – Kaduna, Nigeria from 2012 – 2014 and returned to GAFCSC (Senior Division) where he served as the Chief Instructor from 2014 – 2015.
Additionally, he served as the Director, Lands Operations at the General Headquarters Department of Joint Operations before being seconded to the Rwanda Armed Forces Command and Staff College, as Director of Studies from 2015 – 2017.
In Jan 2017, he was appointed as Aide-de-Camp to the President of the Republic of Ghana and Commander-in-Chief of GAF and served in this capacity until January 2023, when he was promoted to the rank of Major General, and appointed Commandant, Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), a position he held until October 2023, when he handed over and took over as Commandant, GAFCSC.
Maj Gen BK Onwona has completed all career progression courses commensurate with his rank, which include; the Young Officers’ Course at the Army Combat Training School (ACTS), Junior Staff Course at the GAFCSC, Combat Team Commanders’ Course at ACTS, and Senior Staff Course, GAFCSC.
Other courses include, Public and Non-Public Funds Accounting Course at the Forces Pay Regiment, Military Law Course, Engineer Troop Commanders’ Course at the Royal School of Engineering, United Kingdom, General Staff Training Course in Germany and the Combined Arms Staff Training Course in the United Kingdom.
He has vast International Peace Keeping experience, serving as Troop Commander, Ghanaian Battalion (GHANBATT) 32 on United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) Mission; Troop Commander, GHANBATT 4 on the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) Ceasefire Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) Mission in Liberia; Troop Commander, GHANBATT 1 on the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) Mission.
He also was Company Commander, GHANBATT 13 again on ECOMOG, and Deputy Commanding Officer/Operations Officer, GHANBATT 9, on the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO); served as a Staff Officer with UNIFIL in 2004, a Military Observer in the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) from 1994 – 1996 and Military Observer on MONUSCO from March 2008 – March 2009 as Deputy Force Training Officer.
His civil qualifications include, an International Diploma in Logistics and Transport from the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT), Master of Arts in International Affairs from the University of Ghana – Legon, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Public Administration from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).
Maj Gen Onwona is happily married with 2 children, and enjoys reading, watching the news, classical music, basketball and hockey.
By Kofi Ampeah-Woode
