Major General William Agyapong is a Ghanaian soldier and accountant. He is the current Chief of the Defence Staff 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 ...

Early life and education

Agyapong attended the Effiduase Secondary Commercial School in the

Ashanti Region The Ashanti Region is located in the southern part of Ghana and is the third largest of Regions of Ghana, 16 administrative regions, occupying a total land surface of and making up 10.2 percent of the total land area of Ghana. It is the List of ...

for his general secondary education. His sixth form education was at the Tema Secondary School in the

Greater Accra Region The Greater Accra Region has the smallest area of Ghana's Regions of Ghana, 16 administrative regions, occupying a total land surface of 3,245 square kilometres. This is 1.4 per cent of the total land area of Ghana. It is the List of Ghanaian re ...

. Agyapong holds a Master of Science in Professional Accountancy from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

and a Master of Arts in International Security and Strategy from the

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

. He also has a Diploma in Forensic Accounting from the Brentwood Institute 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 is a Chartered accountant and a member of the

Association of Chartered Certified Accountants The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) is the global professional accounting body offering the Chartered Certified Accountant qualification (CCA). Founded in 1904, It is now the fourth-largest professional accounting body ...

Army career

Agyapong joined the Ghana Army in 1988. He was commissioned as an Infantry officer after completing his training in August 1990. He has served with various units in a variety of capacities. He served with

Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group The Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) was a West African multilateral armed force established by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). ECOMOG was a formal arrangement for separate armies to work ...

(ECOMOG),

ECOWAS military intervention in the Gambia The ECOWAS military intervention in the Gambia or the ECOWAS Mission in The Gambia (abbreviated ECOMIG) – initially code-named Operation Restore Democracy – is an ongoing military intervention in The Gambia by several member states of the ...

(ECOMIG),

United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (; ), or UNIFIL (; ) is a United Nations peacekeeping mission established on 19 March 1978 by United Nations Security Council Resolutions United Nations Security Council Resolution 425, 425 and Unit ...

(UNIFIL) and

United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda The United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) was established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 872 on 5 October 1993. It was intended to assist in the implementation of the Arusha Accords (Rwanda), Arusha Accords, sig ...

(UNAMIR). Agyapong served as one of the faculty on the Defence Management Course at the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College. Agyapong worked as a strategic planner at the

United Nations Secretariat The United Nations Secretariat is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), The secretariat is the UN's executive arm. The secretariat has an important role in setting the agenda for the deliberative and decision-making bodi ...

between 2013 and 2016. In 2023, he became the Military Advisor to Ghana's Permanent Representative at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

. In July 2017, then Colonel Agyapong was put in command of a joint military and police task force

Operation Vanguard Operation Vanguard is a military police joint task force (JTF) set up by the President of Ghana in 2017 to combat illegal mining, known as galamsey. Over the years, the practice has depleted Ghana's forest cover and polluted bodies of water due ...

set up by the Ghana government aimed at curbing illegal mining or

galamsey Galamsey refers to illegal small-scale gold mining in Ghana. The term is derived from the English phrase "gather them and sell". Historically, galamsey referred to traditional small-scale mining practices in Ghana, where local communities wou ...

which had become a major cause of pollution in the country. He led this unit from its inception until December 2017 when he handed over to Colonel Michael Amoah-Ayisi. On 24 March 2025, Agyapong was promoted to the rank of Major General. He was also appointed the Chief of the Defence Staff of Ghana by

President of Ghana The president of the Republic of Ghana is the elected head of state and head of government of Ghana, as well as commander-in-chief of the Ghana Armed Forces. The current president of Ghana is John Mahama, who won the 2024 presidential elect ...

John Mahama John Dramani Mahama (; born 29 November 1958) is a Ghanaian politician who has been the 14th president of Ghana since January 2025. A member of the National Democratic Congress (Ghana), National Democratic Congress (NDC), he served as the 12th p ...

on the same day. He replaced General Oppong-Peprah.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Agyapong, William 1939 births Living people Ghanaian soldiers Chiefs of the Defence Staff (Ghana) Alumni of the University of London Alumni of King's College London Ghanaian accountants