Everything about Robert Kotei totally explained
Major General Robert Ebenezer Abossey Kotei (1935 –
26 June 1979) was an
athlete,
soldier and
politician. He was once the
Chief of Defence Staff of the
Ghana Armed Forces and also a member of the
Supreme Military Council which ruled
Ghana between 1975 and 1979. He was executed in 1979, following a military coup. He also held the Ghana High Jump record for many years.
Sports
Robert Kotei competed for Ghana at the
1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games held in
Cardiff,
Wales. He was the only Ghanaian to win a medal at the games.He won the bronze medal in the
High Jump event with a jump of 6 feet 7 inches (2 meters) He won the Men's
AAA Championships in 1960. He subsequently set the Ghana High Jump record in
London on
16 July 1960. This record stood for 36 years until 1996. He also became a member of the Ghana Olympic and Commonwealth Games Committee in 1973.
Career
Robert Kotei (then a Colonel), was the Commander of the First Infantry Brigade of the
Ghana army in the early 1970s. He was instrumental in foiling a
coup plot to unseat the then ruling
National Redemption Council (NRC) government in 1973. He became the Ghana army commander in April 1976. Two years later, he was appointed the Chief of Defence Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces. He retired from the army in 1979.
Politics
Kotei was appointed commissioner (minister) for Information by the NRC military government led by General
Acheampong. He also worked as the commissioner for Housing. He became a member of the
Supreme Military Council (SMC) government formed on
9 October 1975. This replaced the NRC. His appointment was because he was the incumbent army commander. He became Chief of Defense Staff in 1978, following the palace coup that replaced General Acheampong with Lt. General
Fred Akuffo.
Execution
On
4 June 1979, the SMC was overthrown by the
Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) led by Flt. Lt.
Jerry Rawlings. Following the bloody coup, Kotei surrendered himself to the authorities at the Achimota Police Station in response to requests that previous political office holders report. Some soldiers apparently "later went to the Police Station and brutalised him when they got to know he was there". His assets were also confiscated to the state. and a trial held in camera, Kotei was sentenced to death. It is alleged however that Kotei and his colleagues were probably never tried. On
26 June 1979, Kotei and five other senior army officers, including two former heads of state,
Lt. Gen. Fred Akuffo and
Lt. Gen. Akwasi Afrifa, were executed by firing squad. Along with the other officers, he was unceremoniously buried at the Nsawam Prisons Cemetery in Adoagyiri, near
Nsawam in the
Eastern Region. He left behind nine children, including a two year old. On
27 December 2001, two of the eight, Major General Kotei and Air-Vice Marshall Boakye were buried with full military honours at the Osu Military Cemetery in
Accra.
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