President Mahama eulogises Lt Gen. Arnold Quainoo

President John Dramani Mahama has eulogised the late Lieutenant General Arnold Quainoo, a former Chief of Defence Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces, describing him as a disciplined and principled person, who served his country well.
Lt Gen Quainoo passed away on December 2, 2024, at the age of 85.
Speaking at the funeral of the late Lt General Quainoo at St Catherine Catholic Church in Burma Camp, the President on behalf of the people of Ghana and the Armed Forces, expressed their sincerest condolences to the bereaved family of the late General Arnold Quainoo.

President Mahama noted that people who had the opportunity to associate with the late Lt Gen Quainoo would remember that he inspired them in the sense of being able to live their lives selflessly and as patriots of their country.
“He is the last of a generation that is passing whose major focus was love of country. They were not given to materialism. They were principled and they did things based on their patriotic spirit. It is very different from the current generation,” he stated.
“Today, everything is driven by material wealth. And so, as we gather to say farewell to this man, may his life be an inspiration that we can recapture (the) love of country and patriotism.”
President Mahama said people like Lt Gen Quainoo joined the army because they love their profession, which was the sole reason they joined the army.

He said one of the major events in the life of Lt Gen Quainoo was the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) Force that intervened in Liberia.
He said the Liberians civil war was a very, very dangerous war and the Heads of State had met as ECOWAS and decided that they had to send an intervention force.
He reiterated that the ECOMOG was not the peacekeeping forces that Ghanaians were used to today, where people go and just grab a nice time and come back.
He noted that the Liberians civil war was a very dangerous war and Ghana’s contingent was the first to enter Liberia.
He said Lt Gen Quainoo was given the distinguished honour of leading that contingent.
“We were all afraid for our forces. But they made Ghana proud. They went into Liberia.
They created a bridge there for the rest of the ECOMOG Forces to be able to come in. Several of them sacrificed their lives. They died. But Liberia owes them a debt of gratitude,” President Mahama said.
“And Liberia being in peace today was due to those people who went and sacrificed their life for their country.”
The President recalled that the last time he met Lt Gen Quainoo was last year when they were gearing up to start the election campaign and they had come with a programme of visiting elders of their Party (National Democratic Congress) and their tradition.

He said during the visit to Lt Gen Quainoo at his house, he was quite well. He said the late Lt Gen Quainoo recounted a lot of stories of the past to them.
“Today, we are here not to mourn his life. We are here to celebrate him. And to take inspiration for the life that he lived.”
He said the late Lt Gen Quainoo’s life would be an inspiration for Ghanaians to be more patriotic to their nation, love their nation and to be selfless in whatever they do to their fellow Ghanaians.
He urged the children of the late Lt Gen Quainoo to be proud of him because he lived a principled life and that all Ghanaians were proud of him.
“‘…. And so, we didn’t come to mourn him. We come to celebrate him. May the Buffalo Soldier, as we popularly call him, find peaceful repose in the bosom of the Lord.”
Lt Gen Arnold Quainoo served as the Chief of Defence Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces from August 1983 to September 1989.
He was also the first commander of the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG), which intervened in Liberia to help end the civil war.
He also served twice as Army Commander, first in 1979 following the coup d’état by the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council which overthrew the Supreme Military Council.
He was replaced when the Limann government took office.
He was, however, re-appointed as Chief of Army Staff following the 31st of December 1981 coup d’etat by the Provisional National Defence Council and later as General Officer Commanding the Ghana Armed Forces.