35 Facts About Kojo Tsikata

Kojo Tsikata was a Ghanaian military officer and politician, who served as the Head of National Security and Foreign Affairs of the Provisional National Defence Council.

Kojo Tsikata was listed as a retired army captain in the Ghana Army.

Kojo Tsikata was sent to England where he attended the officer cadet course at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.

Kojo 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.

Kojo Tsikata continued to serve there supporting liberation movements until the overthrow of the Nkrumah government by the National Liberation Council military government.

The Special Branch of the security services under the NLC declared Kojo Tsikata a wanted person in March 1967 in line with an important investigation.

Kojo Tsikata was reported to have been in Brazzaville, in Conakry in 1966 and last seen in Togo in November 1966.

Kojo Tsikata 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.

Kojo Tsikata was arrested, detained, and put on death row as a suspect of an assassination plot against Nkrumah on his arrival.

Kojo Tsikata's code-name mentioned during the trial was "gbagbladza" which is cockroach in the Ewe language.

Kojo Tsikata chose to defend himself without counsel and pointed out contradictions in the evidence provided against him.

Wilhelm Harrison Buller, a British Honduran national and friend of Kojo Tsikata was arrested at the residence of Jerry Rawlings for overstaying his visa.

Kojo Tsikata was accused of working to destabilise Ghana's constitutional order and was deported.

Kojo Tsikata was accused of collaborating with Tsikata, Tsatsu Tsikata and Brigadier Arnold Quainoo, an accusation which was denied by all three.

Kojo Tsikata was appointed Special Adviser in 1982 under the Provisional National Defence Council government led by Jerry Rawlings.

Kojo Tsikata had been in charge of national security since 1982.

Kojo Tsikata served as a member of the Council of State of Ghana.

Kojo Tsikata is credited with the setting up of the security network which ensured the survival of the PNDC.

Kojo Tsikata was appointed by Gaddafi to a senior advisory position in charge of the Al Mathaba central committee, a support centre for the liberation movement and anti-imperialist and anti-Zionist organisations.

Aikins, intimated that Captain Kojo Tsikata was implicated in the kidnapping and murder of three high court judges and a retired army officer on 30 June 1983 during the PNDC regime and was never tried.

The Special Investigation Board stated unequivocally that Kojo Tsikata was the mastermind behind the abduction and killing of the three high court judges and the retired army officer.

Kojo Tsikata appeared before the National Reconciliation Commission set up by the Kufuor government to look into human rights violations in Ghana between 1967 and 1993.

Kojo Tsikata stated that the allegations that he was involved in the murder of the High Court judges was a frame up.

Kojo Tsikata named Samuel Azu Crabbe, member of the board and Chief Justice of Ghana between 1973 and 1977 and Brigadier Nunoo-Mensah, Chief of the Defence Staff in 1979 and 1982 as being involved in the conspiracy against him.

Kojo Tsikata claimed that the statement by Nunoo-Mensah dated 23 November 1982 was proof that he was aware of the contents Amartey Quaye will be making on the same day.

Kojo Tsikata requested for an opportunity to cross examine them but this was refused.

Kojo Tsikata claimed that his case as well as that of one Emmanuel Allotey who died in detention were documented by Amnesty International.

Kojo Tsikata used this to buttress his point that the human rights violations occurred under all Ghanaian governments and that the commission should ensure it was not seen as being partisan or discriminatory.

Kojo Tsikata who was the patron of two pro-Nkrumah groups, the Kwame Nkrumah Youngsters Club and the Kwame Nkrumah Welfare Society was instrumental in getting them to merge to form the National Convention Party prior to the 1992 Ghanaian presidential election and 1992 parliamentary election.

John Mahama, President of Ghana between July 2012 and January 2017 said Kojo Tsikata was an important advisor to him as well as being instrumental in the stability of the Fourth Republic of Ghana.

Captain Kojo Tsikata received one of Angola's highest honours, known as Carlos Silva among Angolan fighters, for his role in the struggle for national independence.

Kojo Tsikata was a holder of the Solidarity Award and of the Order of "Carlos Manuel de Cespedes", conferred by the Council of State of the Republic of Cuba.

Kojo Tsikata rejected a national award to be conferred on him in the category of the Companion of the Order of the Volta by President Kuffour.

Kojo Tsikata was listed as one of the six government officials under the NDC regime to receive the award.

Kojo Tsikata mentioned that Tsikata looked after his mother while she was in exile in Ghana.