Ghana

Republic of Ghana

The Republic of Ghana is a small nation on the coast of West Africa, once home to a number of Akan-speaking tribal kingdoms, the most well-known of which was the Ashanti Empire (1670 to 1902). Europeans first made contact with the indigenous people of Ghana in the 15th century, when the Portuguese came there seeking to trade for gold, ivory and slaves. They would be joined in the mid-16th century by the Dutch, and by English, Danish and Swedish traders by the mid-17th century. The name Gold Coast was imposed on the region by the British, who made it a protectorate in 1874 after the last of the Dutch withdrew from their trading forts. Britain clashed with the Ashanti over the course of three wars, finally ending with the Third Ashanti-British War (1900-1901), which firmly established British colonial rule. Following the First World War, the region formerly known as German Togoland was divided by the League of Nations and placed under protection of England and France. British Togoland would ultimately merge with Gold Coast in 1956, and in March of 1957 gain full independence as the new Republic of Ghana. French Togoland would later become the modern Republic of Togo.

Ghana's first prime minister, Kwame Nkrumah, founded the President's Own Guard Regiment (POGR) in 1960, and the unit eventually was removed from the command structure of the Army and put under direct control of the president. Nkrumah's actions and favoritism towards his own personal military force fostered increasing resentment within the Army, leading to a coup d'etat on 24 February 1966 in which Nkrumah was removed from office, and the National Liberation Council created as a temporary government. The NLC retained control of the country until October 1969, after which elections were held, leading to a civilian government being reinstated under Kofi Abrefa Busia.

Busia instituted a number of major changes during his time as leader, but made the mistake of alienating the leaders of the Armed Forces and in January 1972 he was removed from office in a second coup d'etat that set up another military government calling itself the National Redemption Council (NRC). In 1975, the NRC was replaced by the Supreme Military Council (SMC) under the leadership of Colonel Ignatius Kutu Acheampong. Acheampong was forced to resign in 1978, being replaced by General Fred Akuffo who promised to lift a ban on political parties in January 1979. Immediately prior to a scheduled new election of a civilian government, several young officers of the armed forces led by Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings, mounted a third coup d'etat, the June 4th Uprising, during which a number of key senior military officers and three former heads of state were all executed by firing squad. Rawlings became leader of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), but handed power over to Hilla Limann in September of 1979.

Limann only briefly remained in power, as on December 31 1981 Jerry Rawlings successfully mounted another coup d'etat, setting himself up once again as leader of the country under the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC). Rawlings remained in power for years and even succeeded in winning the popular vote in the first contested election since 1979 (held in November 1992). He also won a second election in 1996, but stepped down in 2001 and was succeeded by John Kufuor in early 2001.

The Ghana Armed Forces consist of the Army, Air Force, Navy, National Police Service, Palace Guard (Presidential Guard), and the Civil Defence, and is considered one of the most professional military forces in Africa today. Ghana has enjoyed stable relations with its neighbors in West Africa, and is committted to a number of peacekeeping efforts with the United Nations, including missions to the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC), Liberia (UNMIL), Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), and Lebanon (UNIFIL).

Camouflage Patterns of Ghana

• Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the vast majority of Ghana military personnel wore a plain, olive green combat and everyday working uniform, similar to that worn by American forces just prior to entering the Vietnam War. Yet as far back as 1979, certain elements of the Ghana Army can be seen wearing British Army DPM camouflage. It seems likely that the use of camouflage was restricted to specialized units like the President's Own Guard Regiment (POGR), or possibly only to officers that could afford to have them made in a tailor shop. The use of DPM would also be extended to some Air Force units, in the late 1980s or early 1990s and was commonly seen on fragmentation vest covers (probably surplus British Army issue) on units serving with the United Nations in the 1990s.

• Following close on the heels of its use of DPM, Ghanian military personnel also began wearing copies of m81 woodland camouflage as early as 1982. Use of woodland camo was also sporadic, and appears to have been confined either to specific units or higher ranking personnel, although by 1989 it became more prevalent on units deployed with the United Nations, such as the one serving in Liberia in 1989. The source for these uniforms is unknown, although it is possible some were obtained from American Special Forces training teams.

• Ghana would eventually adopt woodland as the standard issue combat pattern for most of the armed forces. Most designs appear to be copied from the original US drawings, but may have slight variations to the color palette based on what factory they came from. Virtually all uniforms in the modern era were imported from Asia.

• Prior to the present era, some members of the Ghana Police Service have worn a tiger stripe camouflage design with a blue colorway. This is similar to some commercially issued patterns, and may in fact be produced from the same drawings.

• Since 2007 or thereabouts, the Ghana Immigration Service's Border Protection Unit has worn a "leopared print" camouflage design with a mostly green colorway, seen here. The pattern reminds us of a similar one developed in the 1970s for other African nations, such as Zaire and Chad.

• Members of the Ghana Police Service deployed with the African Union (AU/UA) forces in 2012 were observed wearing a pixelated pattern with a blue/purple colorway, and have since been documented wearing the pattern in general service. This pattern is in fact a copy of the KA2 pixelated design developed for the Jordanian Police, and appears to replicate the details of that pattern, down to the miniature outline of the Jordan embedded into the design itself! By 2020, a darker camouflage design began appearing in use with the Ghana Police Service, with an almost violet tone to it.

• The Ghana National Fire Service also has its own camouflage design, being a variation of the standard woodland scheme with an orange/black colorway.

• Another non-military entity that wears camouflage is the Ghana Prison Service. Photographs as old as 2010 show some Prison Service personnel wearing a copy of the US six-color chocolate chip camouflage pattern.

• More recently, two other patterns have been worn by the Ghana Prison Service, a "desert lizard" design (similar to that worn by Mauritania and a "desert woodland" pattern. These two patterns have been worn concurrently since at least 2014.

• Certain units of the Ghana Army have been issued a copy of the US Marine Corps MARPAT temperate camouflage design, dating as far back as 2017. Use of this design appears to have only been retained by the Army Special Operations Brigade, which continues to field the pattern for its personnel. However, past military participants in Operation Vanguard (a joint Army-Police effort against illegal mining) were also documented wearing the design. The Ghana pattern is a direct copy of the USMC design, but lacks the EGA symbol although some uniforms are even imported from American companies.

• The Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has issued two types of camouflage pattern uniforms in recent years, a blue-dominant woodland-derived design, and - more recently (since at least 2020) - a blue-purple dominant DPM camouflage pattern.

• Members of the Ghana National Ambulance Service (NAS) wear an interesting camouflage design wearing a brightly-toned, green-dominant camouflage design, drawing heavily from leaf pattern designs.

• In late 2023, high ranking officers of the Ghana National Fire Service began appearing publicly in a new pixelated camouflage design, having a similar colorway to their previous analog pattern. This design incorporates black and red pixelated shapes on a sand-colored background, but appears to have lost the khaki elements of the original pattern.