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COURAGE QUASHIGAH Ghana 1972
Courage Emmanual Kobla Quashigah was born on 9th September 1947 at Kedzi in the Volta Region of the Gold Coast. After studying at the Keta Secondary School, he enrolled in the Ghana Military Academy in Accra and, after nine months, was selected for training at Sandhurst. A member of Intake 49, he was commissioned in 1972 and received the War Studies prize and the Overseas Cane as the best International Cadet of his intake.
This early promise continued as Quashigah served in operational, training and staff appoint- ments in Ghana including Chief Instructor at the Jungle Warfare School and as an instructor at the Military Academy. He also attended the Ranger course at the US Infantry School, where he graduated first, beating 146 Americans. After an operational tour with UN forces in The Leba- non, he was awarded a commendation, then attended the Ghana Staff College in 1989.
Ghana had been mired in coups since the over- throw of the first President Kwami Nkrumah in 1966. In 1979 a junior officers’ coup led by Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlins was success- ful and Quashigah, a contemporary in age, and the President were close. His position as com- mander of the Military Police gave him a seat on the National Police Council, chaired by the President. However, like many leaders who take
power in a coup, Rawlins was paranoid and in 1989 Quashigah and four others were arrested for allegedly plotting to overthrow the Govern- ment. As Rawlins had conducted a ‘house clear- ing’ exercise when he took power, involving the murder of three former presidents and the ‘dis- appearance’ of over 300 other Ghanaians, the future looked bleak. However, in the wake of Rawlins winning a democratic election in 1992 and changing his image to ‘father of the nation’ the five were quietly released.
His military career effectively over, Quashigah turned to politics and in 1998 was elected National Organiser of the opposition New Patri- otic Party. When the party swept to power in 2001, the new President, John Kuofor, made Quashigah Minister of Agriculture. Although the opposition attacked him for his inexperience, his appointment coincided with bumper harvests in Ghana and, for the first time in many years, the country had a year-round food supply. Indeed, his success in the role led to him being voted Minister of The Year in 2003. Then, in 2005, after a cabinet reshuffle, he became Minister of Health. During his tenure, he promoted healthy living with the slogan ‘Wealth through Health’ and was voted to be the best of all the African Health Ministers. In 2009, Kuofor lost the elec- tion but Quashigah’s retirement was to be tragi- cally short-lived. Still suffering from the effects of his ill-treatment in prison, he travelled to Israel for medical treatment and died there on 5th January 2010.
94 HISTORICAL