Edward Kwaku Utuka (27 January 1937 – 16 June 1979) was a

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

ian military officer, who held the rank of major general of the

Ghana Armed Forces The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) is the state military organisation of Ghana, consisting of the Army (GA), Navy (GN), and Ghana Air Force. The Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces is the president of Ghana, who is also the supreme military ...

, was a former

border guard A border guard of a country is a national security agency that ensures border security. Some of the national border guard agencies also perform coast guard (as in Germany, Italy or Ukraine) and rescue service duties. Name and uniform In diff ...

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

and member of the Supreme Military Council I & II, the ruling government of

from 9 October 1975 to 4 June 1979.

Early life and education

Utuka was born on 27 January 1937, at Likpe-Mate in the Volta Region of Ghana. He had his secondary education at the

Accra Academy Accra Academy is a Single-sex education, boys' high school located at Bubuashie near Kaneshie in the Greater Accra Region, Ghana. It admits both boarding and day students. Founded as a private school in 1931, it gained the status of a Government ...

and took to teaching before joining the military.

Military career

Utuka attended the

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academy, military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial Commissioned officer, officer train ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. He served in the Ghana Armed Forces and was active during the

Congo Crisis The Congo Crisis () was a period of Crisis, political upheaval and war, conflict between 1960 and 1965 in the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville), Republic of the Congo (today the Democratic Republic of the Congo). The crisis began almost ...

. In July 1961, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the

Ghana Army The Ghana Army is the principal land warfare force of Ghana. In 1959, two years after the Gold Coast (British colony), Gold Coast became independent from the British Empire, the Ghana Regiment, Gold Coast Regiment was withdrawn from the Royal West ...

. He rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and was appointed commander of the Second Battalion based at

Takoradi Sekondi-Takoradi ( ) is a city in Ghana comprising the twin cities of Sekondi and Takoradi. It is the capital of Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan District and the Western Region of Ghana. Sekondi-Takoradi is the region's largest city as well as ...

. In 1975, he became the Border Guards commander.

Politics

In October 1975, after the formation of the Supreme Military Council (SMC) as the military government replacing the

National Redemption Council The National Redemption Council (NRC) was the ruling Ghana military government from 13 January 1972 to 9 October 1975. Its chairman was Colonel I. K. Acheampong, who was thus also the head of state of Ghana. Duration of rule The NRC came into ...

, he became a member of government as all the service commanders became members of the SMC.

Execution

Following the military coup d'état which replaced the SMC government of Lt. General Akuffo with the

Armed Forces Revolutionary Council The Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) was a group of Sierra Leone soldiers that allied itself with the rebel Revolutionary United Front in the late 1990s. While the AFRC briefly controlled the country in 1998, it was driven from the ca ...

, he was executed, along with former head-of-state Acheampong on 16 June 1979.

References

1937 births 1979 deaths Executed Ghanaian people People executed by Ghana by firing squad Executed military personnel Alumni of the Accra Academy People in border control Ghanaian military personnel People from Volta Region {{ghana-mil-bio-stub