A photo collage of Lt. General Arnold Quainoo (L) and President John Dramani Mahama
President John Dramani Mahama has described the late Lieutenant General Arnold Quainoo as a man whose life was an expression of patriotism and profound love for his country.
Speaking during the burial mass at the St. Catherine Catholic Church on Friday, February 7, 2025, Mahama noted that Quainoo’s life serves as an inspiration for rekindling patriotism.
“His life was really an inspiration that we can recapture love of country and patriotism. People like him joined the army because they loved their profession. That was the sole reason they joined the army,” he said.
Mahama reflected on Quainoo’s role in leading Ghana’s contingent to Liberia during the early days of the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) intervention.
He described the Liberian Civil War as extremely dangerous, stressing that it was different from modern peacekeeping missions, where troops are deployed under more controlled conditions.
“The Liberian Civil War was a very, very dangerous war. The Heads of State met as ECOWAS and decided that an intervention force had to be sent. It was not like the peacekeeping forces of today, where people go and return safely. This was a dangerous war, and Ghana’s contingent was the first to enter Liberia. General Quainoo was given the distinguished mandate to lead the contingent. We were all afraid for our forces, but they made Ghana proud. They went into Liberia, created a bridgehead for the rest of the ECOMOG force to follow, and several of them sacrificed their lives in the process. Some did not return,” he stated.
The president acknowledged that Liberia today owes its stability, in part, to the sacrifices of those brave men.
Recalling his last meeting with Quainoo, Mahama said it was during a visit to elders of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) ahead of the election campaign last year.
“We went to his house. He was quite well. We sat outside, and he regaled us with stories from the past. Today, we are not here to mourn but to celebrate his life and take inspiration from the values he lived by. He will continue to guide us, urging us to be patriotic, to love our nation, and to be selfless in service to our fellow Ghanaians,” he added.
Lt. Gen. Arnold Quainoo, popularly known as ‘The Buffalo,’ was one of Ghana’s most distinguished military officers.
He served twice as Army Commander, first in 1979 following the coup by the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), which overthrew the Supreme Military Council.
When Ghana returned to constitutional rule in 1981 under Dr. Hilla Limann, he was replaced, but after the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) came to power, he was reappointed Chief of Army Staff.
He later succeeded Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings as Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS), serving as Ghana’s 22nd CDS from August 25, 1983, to September 22, 1989, helping to stabilize the military in a politically turbulent period.
On the international front, in 1990, he was appointed the first commander of ECOMOG, leading the intervention force into Liberia.
He was also known for his firm stance on military discipline, abolishing extravagant initiation and wetting ceremonies in military messes and replacing them with the reaffirmation ceremony.
He passed away on December 2, 2024, at the age of 85.
JKB/AE
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