The recent coup in Gabon, led by General Brice Oligui Nguema, has brought the issue of special presidential guard units into focus. These elite forces are tasked with protecting top regime officials, including the president.
In this case, General Nguema, who had been responsible for safeguarding President Ali Bongo Ondimba since 2019, orchestrated the overthrow of the president.
This trend of presidential guards turning against their leaders and taking control has occurred in other African countries as well.
Guinea witnessed a similar scenario when Colonel Doumbouya removed President Alpha Conde from power, and Niger experienced it with Abdourahmane Tchiani’s actions against President Mohamed Bazoum.
Ghana, despite being in its Fourth Republic, has not faced such incidents, even though it has seen four disruptions to its democratic experiment since gaining independence in 1957.
However, Ghana has a history of a private army established in the early 1980s during the leadership of Jerry John Rawlings and the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC).
This private army, known as the Commando unit, was formed in 1983 to protect the Rawlings regime.
While the Commandos Unit has since been integrated into the Ghana Armed Forces to comply with constitutional provisions prohibiting private armies, the 64thIR is the only unit where lower-ranking personnel are allowed to carry sidearms even when off duty.
The events in Gabon and the history of private armies in Ghana shed light on the complex dynamics of presidential security units across Africa and their potential roles in political developments.
January 2001: 64 Regiment pledges support to govt
Days after coming into office, the Commanding Officer of the 64 Infantry Regiment, Lt. Col. Larry Gbevlo-Lartey, pledged the commitment of the regiment to protecting constitutional rule in the country, according to a GNA report.
“We are not a coup-making regiment, neither was the unit established to perpetuate the rule of any one person but to ensure stability at all times and act as a rapid deployment force in emergencies,” he said.
Lt. Col. Gbevlo-Lartey gave the assurance when the Minister of Defence-designate, Dr Kwame Addo-Kufuor, made a familiarisation visit to the unit as part of a visit to the Ministry of Defence to interact with the top hierarchy of the Ghana Armed Forces on behalf of the President, Mr J. A. Kufuor yesterday.
“We are clear in our mission and the task assigned to us and we will continue to perform those duties to ensure stability in the country at all times,” the Commanding Officer stressed.
Lt. Col. Gbevlo-Lartey, therefore, asked the Minister-designate to reassure the President of the loyalty of the unit to the government to enable it implement its noble programmes for Ghanaians.
June 2003 – 64 Battalion Now Part Of Regular Army
By June 2003, the Kufuor government had undertaken a series of reforms to realign the purpose of the battalion and formally reintegrated it into the regular army.
A GNA report at the time read: “Members of the erstwhile 64 Battalion of the Ghana Armed Forces have been integrated into the regular army with a clearly defined duty.
“The soldiers who, according to the Minister for Defence, did not have a clear task previously, now have a clearly defined role in the Ghana Armed Forces, adding that none of them have been sacked or fired from the Ghana Armed Forces.
Dr Kwame Addo-Kufuor was refuting allegations by a questioner at the Meet-The-Press that members of the Battalion had been fired. He explained that it was not in the interest of the nation to put such a highly trained core of personnel on the streets.
Kufuor government lived with fear of the battalion even after disbanding
According to multiple reports the Kufuor government at the time chose a phased disbanding and reintegration of the battalion knowing that most of them had their loyalties with the Rawlings government.
The move was, however, greeted with a lot of praise from security watchers who stated that it was important that the then government treaded cautiously because of fears of another coup.
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