Kojo Tsikata: the myth and the man
by a Correspondent
He could easily have become the commanding officer of the Reconnaissance Regiment if he had not been assessed as a troublesome officer.Kojo Tsikata is said to be the most powerful man in Ghana today. His official designation is "SPECIAL ADVISER" but there is no aspect of government activity that escapes his attention. But because of his secretive nature, not much is known about this man. The little that is known is woven in mystery. There are times when one is persuaded to admit that the man himself is at the centre of this myth creation, that his aim is to create a larger than life figure, which can only serve in the end to increase his own perceptions of his power in Ghana today.
Born about 47 years ago, Kojo Tsikata went to Achimota School. After obtaining his school certificates, he was selected for training at the Regular Officers Training School in Teshie where after six months, he was sent to the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst for his two-year regular officers training. He was awarded the baton for best cadet at his passing out ceremony. On the completion of his course, he was posted to the First Independent Reconnaissance Squadron where he carved out a reputation as a very good officer. He was able to pass his Lieutenant to Captain and his Captain to Major examinations before he became a Captain. A result of his rather singular achievement was to lead to the decision that no one below the rank of a Captain should sit for the Captain to Major examinations. It is suspected that this decision was taken to avoid a situation where younger officers could embarrass their senior colleagues.
It is interesting to note that soon after this decision, Kojo started having his differences with his superiors. By 1963 he had achieved a notoriety for telling off his superiors publicly. They, while conceding his above average standard, thought him an undisciplined officer and lost no opportunity to show their displeasure with his attitudes. He could easily have become the commanding officer of the Reconnaissance Regiment if he had not been assessed as a troublesome officer. It is said that a reason for Kojo's attitude was that he felt he was more intelligent than his superior officers, and was openly contemptuous of them.
Kojo Tsikata did not mix much in the Arakan Officers Mess where he lived from 1963 to 1965. His quiet reserved manner did not win him many friends, but he had a certain superior attitude to his fellow officers which rankled and which put him off many officers in the mess. He rather sought his friendships outside the camp, where people like Obed Asamoah, Kofi Awoonor (now top officials of the PNDC) and other young professionals and intellectuals in Accra then provided him with the company he wanted. Whether this was a deliberate move to keep away from the camp as much as possible, it is difficult to say. There is no doubt that he preferred to spend his free time in the political and intellectual discussions of this group to talking shop in the mess.
Despite the above, Kojo Tsikata was regarded by his officer colleagues as a ruthless officer, a reputation he acquired during his service with the UN forces in the Belgian Congo.
— Capt. Kojo Tsikata, the power behind the PNDC.
He was one of the first students of the new Ghana Defence College set up to train junior staff officers of the Ghana Armed Forces in 1964. After this course, Captain Tsikata as he then was, was posted to the Ministry of Defence as a grade III staff officer in the Training Division of the Operations and Plans Department. He was to remain in the Ministry till he was asked to leave the Armed Forces in 1965.
The circumstances surrounding Kojo Tsikata's departure from the Ghana Armed Forces were not, as have been reported in some newspapers, because Nkrumah wanted him to train freedom fighters. He was asked to resign his commission after he had travelled outside Ghana without authorisation and caused a minor diplomatic incident between Ghana and the French Congo. News of his presence in Brazzaville where he had been arrested on his iden tification as a Ghanaian soldier, at a time of strained relations between Ghana and the French Congo, reached the Ministry of Defence. On his repatriation to Ghana, his conduct was investigated. An adverse report was made against him and he was asked to leave the armed forces. Tsikata's own story is that Nkrumah had sent him on an 007-type mission.
After his dismissal from the Ghana Armed Forces, he remained in Ghana for some time. Around 1968, the NLC declared him a wanted man and banned him from all barracks and military installations. It is also known that he was arrested and detained in Guinea but was released on the intervention of Nkrumah, then in exile in Guinea, who sent him to London to recuperate because he had been severely beaten up by the Guineans who suspected that he might have been a spy for the NLC..
Between 1968 and 1971, he was variously reported to be in Biafra, Angola, Cuba and France. Those who knew him intimately will say that he was in London all this time. He himself claims that he was in Angola advising the MPLA on the organisation and conduct of their fight for freedom from colonial rule. Despite his familiarity with some of the top officials of the MPLA government in Angola, there is no hard evidence to prove conclusively that he was with the MPLA in the Cabinda enclave and Angola itself from 1967 to 1970 as he claims. It is an aspect of his life that he prefers not to discuss. It is possible he may have been involved with the MPLA but there are those who will claim that he lived on Randolph Avenue, Maida Vale, London between 1968 and 1970.
Kojo Tsikata returned to Ghana in late 1971 and, when Acheampong seized power in January 1972, he became Director of Special Branch but was quickly removed and redeployed to the Diamond Marketing Board as General Manager. In 1975 he was arrested on suspicion of plotting to overthrow the Acheampong regime. He was found guilty and sentenced to death but this was commuted to life imprisonment. He was released on pardon when General Akuffo took over power, in August 1978.
Kojo Tsikata's association with Rawlings began after the formation of the AFRC. Even though Rawlings had heard of him, they met for the first time in June 1979. His apparent hold on Rawlings began after that. Kojo's reputation as a brilliant officer seemed to have mesmerised Rawlings. There are some who claim that Rawlings felt that in Kojo Tsikata, he had a man who could certainly be useful to him in future. His hold on Rawlings grew after the AFRC had handed over power to the extent that there was no doubt that he was bound to play a useful role when Rawlings overthrew the Limann administration. After Rawling's return, he became what he is today.
It is said that part of the reason for his attitude was that he felt he was more intelligent than his superior officers and was openly contemptuous of them.
Kojo Tsikata has had political ambitions of a sort for a long time but whilst he was in the Armed Forces in the early sixties, he had to suppress these. On his return to Ghana in 1971, he saw himself as a political figure in Ghana's politics, but not for him the hard struggle involved in elections. For him the road to the top lay in using certain positions and connections to advance his career. Therefore when Acheampong seized power and he became Special Branch boss, he saw in this the first step towards his goal but then this was frustrated. His subsequent activities, including his involvement in the plot against Acheampong, were all geared towards fulfilling his goal of a place at the top of the political pile.
When the late Gen. Akuffo announced a return to party political activity, he did try to enter into the mainstream of Ghanaian politics within the People's National Party (PNP), which was being sold as an off-shoot of the old Convention People's Party (CPP), Kwame Nkrumah's old party.
In the early days of juggling for position in the party, he was frequently with Alhaji Imoru Ayarna and spent many weeks engrossed in old copies of the Daily Graphic trying to gather evidence against members of the CPP who had 'betrayed Nkrumah' in 1966 and were emerging in 1979 to positions of power in the PNP.
He did become a member of the PNP and it is said, had hoped for a prominent position and when that hope failed to materialise, he reverted to his old ways of acting outside the mainstream.
His Marxist beliefs may have been inculcated in him in his early days in London. There is evidence however to suggest that this was nurtured after his return from Sandhurst. There are many who believe that his professed Marxism is only a ploy for achieving power and that he does not believe in Marxism as he is wont to claim. Certainly there are Marxist intellectuals who have been in contact with him and who are prepared to state that his grasp of Marxist thought is wafer thin and suspect him to be a professional conspirator for whom Marxism is only a means to an end.
By a clever exploitation of a reputation founded on a mixture of myths and facts, he was able to convince many leftists that he is a man to be respected and does not lose the opportunity to boast about his international credentials.
He is taciturn. He does not like to take part in discussions, prefering to confide his views on a one to one basis so that if he had ever to deny something, he can never be challenged by more than one person.
He can be shrewd and is capable of weaving the most complex manoeuvres to achieve his goals. He can be very cruel; one who is unlikely to be swayed by compassion once he is determined to be ruthless. Like his boss, Rawlings, he is capable of making out the most blatant lie to suit his purposes. A friend has described him as being incapable of telling the truth. His claim to personal courage is discounted by those who interrogated him in his subversion trial.
He has a long memory. He will take revenge on anybody who has wronged him.
It will be naive for anyone to assume that Kojo Tsikata has reached the pinnacle of his ambitions as the number two in the regime. No one who knows the man will accept this. For him the very top appears to be the objective of his activities. His remarks and recent activities have given some reason to believe that he may have begun his climb to the top. It will be interesting to see what happens in the PNDC now between him and Rawlings; whether he or Rawlings will be the first to go. For there is no doubt that there is some kind of struggle going on now to determine who shall finally call the shots: Kojo or Rawlings.
If Kojo wins, it will be the realization of secret hopes planned a long time ago.
