Stephen Otu

Stephen Otu volunteered for service in the Gold Coast Regiment of the Royal West African Frontier Force. His service marked him out as a potential officer and, in 1947, he was posted to an Officer Cadet Training Unit (OCTU) in the United Kingdom to undertake a selection course. He passed out successfully and was commissioned on 1 May 1948. A decade later, in 1958, he became one of the original officers of the Ghana Regiment, when the Gold Coast gained its independence.

Initially a Company Commander (Major), he was soon promoted to command a Battalion, as a Lieutenant-Colonel. He continued through the higher ranks until, in October 1962, he became only the second Ghanaian to become the Chief of Army Staff, a position he occupied until July 1965 when the army headquarters became annexed to the Ministry of Defence.[2] In 1961 the remaining British Army personnel left Ghana and Major-General S.J.A. Otu [3] succeeded Major General Henry Templer Alexander,[4] a British officer on loan, taking overall command as the first Ghanaian officer to become the Chief of Defence Staff of the Republic.