Robert Kotei

Infobox Officeholder
honorific-prefix =
name =Robert Kotei
honorific-suffix =


imagesize =
small

caption =
office =Member of the Supreme Military Council
term_start =1976
term_end =June 4, 1979
president =Fred Akuffo
(Head of state)
order2 =
office2 =Chief of Defence Staff
term_start2 =5 July, 1978
term_end2 =1979
predecessor2 =Lt. Gen. Fred Akuffo
successor2 =Lt. Gen. Joshua Hamidu
birth_date =1935
birth_place =
death_date =June 26, 1979
death_place = Accra, Ghana
nationality =flagicon|GHA Ghanaian
spouse = Nancy Kotei
relations =
children =9
residence =
alma_mater =
occupation =
profession =Soldier
religion =Christian


website =
footnotes =

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 Ghanaian high jump record for many years.

ports

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. [cite web |url=http://www.jumpscoach.com.au/Commonwealth%20Games.pdf |title=Commonwealth Games - High, Long and Triple Jump Results |accessdate=2007-06-07 |format=pdf |pages=page 14|work=High, Long and Triple Jump results from all Commonwealth Games from 1930 to 2002 |publisher=Jumps Coach ] [cite web |url=http://www.gbrathletics.com/ic/cg.htm |title=Commonwealth Games Medallists - Athletics (Men) |accessdate=2007-06-06 |work=Historical British athletics statistics site |publisher=Athletics Weekly] He won the bronze medal in the high jump event with a jump of 6 feet 7 inches (2 m) [cite web| url=http://www.commonwealthgames.com/ |title=Commonwealth Games |accessdate=2007-06-07 |publisher=Commonwealth Games Federation] He won the Men's AAA Championships in 1960. [cite web |url=http://www.gbrathletics.com/bc/aaa.htm |title=AAA Championships (Men) |accessdate=2007-06-07 |publisher=Athletics Weekly] He subsequently set the Ghana High Jump record in London on 16 July 1960. This record stood for 36 years until 1996. [cite web |url=http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/athletics/m_best.php |title=Men (All-time lists) |accessdate=2007-06-06 |publisher=Ghana Home Page] He also became a member of the Ghana Olympic and Commonwealth Games Committee in 1973. [cite web |url=http://www.aafla.org/OlympicInformationCenter/OlympicReview/1973/ore68/ore68p.pdf |title=Around the National Olympic Committees |accessdate=2007-06-06 |format=pdf |pages= page 297 |year=1973 |publisher=Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles]

Career

Military

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. [cite web |url=http://www.ghanaianobserver.com/comments/newsarticle.asp?id=1052 |title=The Great Juju Plot |accessdate=2007-06-07 |date=April 25, 2007 |work=Comments and Analysis - (DRUM: June 1974) |publisher=The Ghanaian Observer Online] 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.cite news |url=http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/economy/artikel.php?ID=56771 |title=General Kotei's sister testifies before NRC |accessdate=2007-06-07 |work=General News of Tuesday, 27 April 2004 |publisher=Ghana Home Page] 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. After an investigation that was apparently incomplete [cite news |url=http://www.ghanaweb.net/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=35230&comment=704040 |title=Rawlings To Defend Executions At NRC |accessdate=2007-06-07 |work=General News of Friday, 11 April 2003 |publisher=Ghana Home Page] and a trial held in camera, Kotei was sentenced to death. It is alleged however that Kotei and his colleagues were probably never tried. [cite web |url=http://www.ghana.gov.gh/NRC/Vol.%202%20%20Part%201%20Chpt%204%20Social%20Context.pdf |title=The Social Context |accessdate=2007-06-07 |date=October 2004 |format=pdf |pages=page 91 |work=National Reconciliation Commission Report Volume 2 Part 1 Chapter 4 |publisher=Ghana government] 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. [cite web |url=http://www.ghana.gov.gh/NRC/VOL%202%20Part%201%20CHAPTER%206%20Review%20of%20Petitions.pdf |title=Review of Petitions |accessdate=2007-06-06 |date=October 2004 |format=pdf |pages=pp 176-180 |work=National Reconciliation Commission Report Volume 2 Part 1 Chapter 6 |publisher=Ghana government] Along with the other officers, he was unceremoniously buried at the Nsawam Prisons Cemetery in Adoagyiri, near Nsawam in the Eastern Region. [cite news |url=http://www.ghanaweb.net/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=35230&comment=704040 |title=Rawlings To Defend Executions At NRC |accessdate=2007-06-07 |publisher=Ghana Home Page ] He left behind nine children, including a two year old.

Reburial

All eight senior military officers executed in June 1979 were exhumed and their bodies released to their respective families for reburial in 2001. [cite news |url=http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=20547 |title=Ghana reburies past in quest for reconciliation |accessdate=2007-06-07 |work=General News of Friday, 28 December 2001 |publisher=Ghana Home Page] 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. [cite news |url=http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=20551 |title=Two Ex- military generals re-buried at Osu cemetery |accessdate=2007-06-06 |work=General News of Friday, 28 December 2001 |publisher=Ghana Home Page]

References

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Persondata
NAME=Kotei, Robert Ebenezer Abossey
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Athlete, soldier, politician and former Chief of Defence Staff and member of Supreme Military Council government.
DATE OF BIRTH=1935
PLACE OF BIRTH=
DATE OF DEATH=June 26 1979
PLACE OF DEATH=Accra, Greater Accra Region, Ghana