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‘Monkeys play by sizes’: the reconstruction of military hierarchy in Ghana's armed forces

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 November 2021

Humphrey Asamoah Agyekum
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Abstract

Ghana's post-independence era has been shaped by a series of coups and numerous attempted military interventions. While the involvement of the Ghana Armed Forces in politics has received widespread academic attention, the detrimental effects of these events on the military as an institution remain largely understudied. Using the coups of 1979 and 1981 as a point of departure, the article explores from an institutional perspective how the disruption of the everyday in the Ghanaian barracks resulted in the temporal breakdown of discipline and the collapse of military hierarchy. The article further examines the measures taken by the Provisional National Defence Council junta to rebuild and nurture hierarchy following its breakdown. It is also argued that restoration of hierarchy in the Ghanaian barracks called not only for an appeal to soldierly values, such as respect for rank and authority, but also for dramatic performances of authority and military hierarchy. The article depicts hierarchy in various settings, while exploring how the military order is expressed and lived in the current constellation. In short, the article not only illustrates a historical evolution, but also demonstrates that the maintenance of order and hierarchy in a closed institution such as the military is an ongoing and continuous negotiation process.

Résumé

Résumé

La période post-indépendance du Ghana a été marquée par une série de coups d’État et de nombreuses tentatives d'intervention militaire. Alors que l'implication des forces armées ghanéennes dans les affaires politiques a fait l'objet de nombreuses recherches, les effets négatifs de ces événements sur l'armée en tant qu'institution restent largement négligés dans les études. Utilisant comme point de départ les coups d’État de 1979 et de 1981, l'article explore d'un point de vue institutionnel comment la perturbation du quotidien dans les casernes ghanéennes a entraîné une dégradation temporelle de la discipline et l'effondrement de la hiérarchie militaire. Il examine plus en détail les mesures prises par la junte militaire (Provisional National Defence Council) pour reconstruire et cultiver la hiérarchie après son effondrement. Il soutient également que la restauration de la hiérarchie dans les casernes ghanéennes a demandé non seulement de faire appel aux valeurs de soldat, telles que le respect du rang et de l'autorité, mais aussi à l'exercice spectaculaire de l'autorité et de la hiérarchie militaire. L'article décrit la hiérarchie dans différentes situations, tout en explorant comment l'ordre militaire s'exprime et se vit dans la constellation actuelle. En bref, il illustre une évolution historique, mais il démontre aussi que le maintien de l'ordre et de la hiérarchie dans une institution fermée comme l'armée est un processus de négociation continu.

Type
Military hierarchy in Ghana's army
Information
Africa , Volume 91 , Issue 5 , November 2021 , pp. 874 - 892
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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