Why Mahama sacked Military Chiefs

Barely a day after a DAILY GUIDE report about imminent changes in the Command of the Ghana Armed Forces, President John Mahama on Monday replaced the Chief of the Defence Staff, Vice Admiral Matthew Quashie, with Air Vice Marshal (AVM) Sampson Michael-Oje.

A statement about the changes emanating from the Office of the President said AVM Sampson Michael-Oje replaces Vice Admiral Matthew Quashie as the Chief of the Defence Staff, with no explanation about the sudden removal of the CDS and his Naval subordinate, Real Admiral Geoffrey Mawuli Biekro.

DAILY GUIDE learnt that the sudden changes were effected because of the recent embarrassment caused the presidency by the recent dismissal of 501 recruits, mostly NDC foot-soldiers undergoing training at Shai Hills.

The army chief was also pencilled down for removal but for ethnic balance, Major General Richard Opoku-Adusei was spared the rod.

The changes in the top echelon of the Armed Forces is a prelude to a general shakeup in the Mahama administration, with a number of ministers expected to lose their portfolios in the days ahead.

As it is the convention somewhat, the outgoing CDS has been appointed an Ambassador-designate.

Questions are being posed about the sincerity of the president’s appointment of the outgoing CDS as Ambassador-designate, given what befell the former Chief of Staff at the Presidency (Flagstaff House), Prosper Bani.

The former Chief of Staff, when he was removed from office, was assured of a diplomatic appointment which is yet to come his way anyway. More than a year after his removal, Prosper Bani is yet to be posted to any diplomatic mission abroad.

Air Commodore Maxwell Mantsebi-Tei Nagai, currently head at the Air Force Base in Takoradi, has been appointed new Chief of Air Staff as Commodore Peter Kofi Fiado heads the Navy as Chief of Naval Staff, taking over from Real Admiral Geoffrey Mawuli Biekro, who was not assigned any new role.

General Officer Commanding Southern Command of the Ghana Army, Brigadier General Sampson Kudjo Adeti, who DAILY GUIDE reported was being considered as Chief of Army Staff, could be dropped over ethnicity.

The Acting IGP, John Kudalor, hails from the Volta Region as Brigadier General Adeti, who now goes to the General Headquarters as Chief of Staff.

The new CDS is one of the best pilots in the Ghana Air Force. A product of the Navrongo Secondary School in the Upper East Region, he was the Base Commander in Takoradi until his appointment as the Chief of the Air Staff by the late President John Atta Mills and retained by President Mahama.

The new CDS has been flying the presidential jet mostly when the president is making outside trips.