A former Chief of Defence Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Arnold Quainoo, has died.

According to a report by graphic.com.gh, the senior military officer died at the 37 Military Hospital on Monday, December 2, 2024.

Lt Gen Quainoo served as the Chief of Defence Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces from August 1983 to September 1989 as was popularly known at the time as ‘Buffalo Soldier’.

During his days in the military, he became 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 two terms as Army Commander. The first was in 1979, after the coup d'état by the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), which ousted the Supreme Military Council (SMC). He was replaced when the Liman government came to power later that year.

However, he was re-appointed as Chief of Army Staff following the coup by the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) and subsequently served as the General Officer Commanding the Ghana Armed Forces, graphic.com.gh reports.