Akwa tipped as new CDS

Major General Obed Boamah Akwa, Chief of Army Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces, will be the next Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), sources within the presidency have hinted. He will be serving as the acting CDS until the Council of State is constituted to affirm his position.

The official announcement is expected to be done by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at the seat of government in Accra.

He was appointed Chief of Army Staff on July 1, 2016 by former president John Mahama.

Major General Akwa enlisted into the Ghana Military Academy in October 1975. He was commissioned into the Ghana Army as a Second Lieutenant in March 1977 with extensive experience in Global Security, Defence and Strategic Studies. He also has an excellent understanding of the theory and practice of international peace support operations.

He served as the Western Brigade Commander/Ghanaian Contingent Commander with the United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Congo (MONUSCO).

Brig Gen Akwa had his basic military training at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, United Kingdom from 1976-1977. He has academic qualifications in Global Security (MSc) from Cranfield University, England, 2003; Defence and Strategic Studies (MSc) from Madras University, India, 1977; and Public Administration (Certificate) from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, Accra, Ghana, 1989.