Kojo Tsikata (1936 – 20 November 2021) was a Ghanaian military officer and politician, who served as the Head of National Security and Foreign Affairs of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC). He was listed as a retired army captain in the Ghana Army.
Early life and education
Tsikata was born in 1936. He attended Achimota School for his secondary education. One of his student colleagues was Obed Asamoah who later became the longest serving Minister for Foreign Affairs in Ghana. While there, he was influenced by a recruitment drive to join the Ghana Army after completing his secondary education. He was sent to England where he attended the officer cadet course at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
Biography
Tsikata was very keen on the pan-African ideas of Kwame Nkrumah and others. Together with Obed Asamoah, they were ready to go fight in the Algerian war of independence but were dissuaded by Frantz Fanon who was the representative of the Algerian government in exile in Ghana.
Tsikata was sent to the Congo with Major General Ankrah as part of a Ghanaian military contingent with orders from Kwame Nkrumah to protect the Pan-Africanist and anti-neocolonialist Patrice Lumumba, who was the Prime Minister. In 1964, he was in Angola where he joined MPLA fighters and internationalist fighters from Cuba. He continued to serve there supporting liberation movements until the overthrow of the Nkrumah government by the National Liberation Council (NLC) military government. The Special Branch of the security services under the NLC declared Tsikata a wanted person in March 1967 in line with an important investigation. He was reported to have been in Brazzaville, in Conakry in 1966 and last seen in Togo in November 1966. He fell out with the officers who overthrew Kwame Nkrumah and stayed in exile until the military handed over power to the civilian government of Kofi Abrefa Busia.
He visited Conakry, Guinea, to see Nkrumah. He was arrested, detained, and put on death row as a suspect of an assassination plot against Nkrumah on his arrival. Samora Machel, a freedom fighter and later president of Mozambique, intervened to get him pardoned. Samora travelled with him back to Mozambique.
In 1976, he was arrested together with others for attempting to overthrow the National Redemption Council (NRC) military government led by Colonel Kutu Acheampong. That plot became known as the "One Man One Matchet" coup. His code-name mentioned during the trial was "gbagbladza" which is cockroach in the Ewe language. Others arrested with him were Victor Latzoo, a retired lieutenant in the Ghana Army, Staff Sergeant Godfried K. Amereka, Warrant Officer H. Raphael Nyatepeh, Captain Gustav K. Banini, Corporal John Gbeeze, Francis Agboada and Michael Hamenoo. The leader Brigadier Khattah whose code-name during the plot was "Amega" meaning "Boss" in Ewe escaped arrest. Tsikata chose to defend himself without counsel and pointed out contradictions in the evidence provided against him. Amnesty International raised concerns about the trial and the torture of Tsikata and others. Tsikata, Staff Sergeant Godfried Amereka, Warrant Officer Raphael Nyatepeh, Francis Agboada and Michael Hamenoo were sentenced to death. Two others were sentenced to eighteen years in jail.
During the rule of the Limann government, Tsikata found himself under open surveillance by the country's security agencies. Wilhelm Harrison Buller, a British Honduran national and friend of Tsikata was arrested at the residence of Jerry Rawlings for overstaying his visa. He was accused of working to destabilise Ghana's constitutional order and was deported. He was accused of collaborating with Tsikata, Tsatsu Tsikata and Brigadier Arnold Quainoo, an accusation which was denied by all three. As the saga continued, Tsikata took about nineteen intelligence officers to the High Court suing for harassment. The court found in his favour, stating that his human rights could only be violated for compelling reasons and granted him damages. This did not stop entirely and Tsikata ended up escaping to exile in Lomé, capital of Togo
Role in government
He was appointed Special Adviser in 1982 under the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) government led by Jerry Rawlings. He had been in charge of national security since 1982. He also served as a member of the Council of State of Ghana. In July 1985, he was appointed as a substantive member of the PNDC in charge of National Security and Foreign Affairs. He is credited with the setting up of the security network which ensured the survival of the PNDC.