Lieutenant General Obed Boamah Akwa was a Ghanaian military officer. He was the Chief of the Defence Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces from February 2017 to February 2021. Prior to his appointment, he was the Chief of Army Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces.

He enlisted into the Ghana Military Academy in October 1975. Lt. Gen. Obed Akwa had his basic military training at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, the United Kingdom from 1976-to 1977.

He has academic qualifications in Global Security (MSc) from Cranfield University, England, 2003; Defence and Strategic Studies (MSc) from Madras University, India, 1977; and Public Administration (Certificate) from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, Accra, Ghana, 1989.

He was commissioned into the Ghana Army as a Second Lieutenant in March 1977 with extensive experience in Global Security, Defence, and Strategic Studies. He also has an excellent understanding of the theory and practice of international peace support operations.

He served as the Western Brigade Commander/Ghanaian Contingent Commander with the United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Congo (MONUSCO). Akwa also served as the Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to former President John Agyekum Kuffuor from 2005, till the end of his term in January 2009.

Lieutenant General Akwa was appointed Chief of Army Staff on July 1, 2016, by former president John Mahama.

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