Lieutenant General William Agyapong being dressed by Dr Edward Omane Boamah
The Chief of Defence Staff, Lieutenant General William Agyapong, has been promoted from a Two-Star General to Three-Star General effective Thursday, May 1, 2025.
His rank decoration was performed by the Minister of Defence, Dr Edward Omane Boamah, on Friday, May 2, 2025, at the Ministry of Defence.
“Congratulations Lt. Gen. William Agyapong, Chief of Defence Staff who has been promoted from Two-Star General to Three-Star General with effect from yesterday 1st May, 2025. I had the privilege of decorating Lt. Gen. Agyapong with his Rank this morning @ 8:00am in my office at The Square, Ministry of Defence. We trust you to enhance the capabilities and operational efficiency of the Ghana Armed Forces,” the minister wrote in a Facebook post.
Lieutenant General William Agyapong was appointed as the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) by President John Dramani Mahama on March 17, 2025, succeeding General Thomas Oppong-Peprah, who had served since February 2024.
Initially appointed as a Brigadier General, William Agyapong was promoted to Major General on March 24, 2025, and later to Lieutenant General.
The appointment, effective March 24, 2025, was part of a broader military leadership restructuring, including new appointments for the Chiefs of Army, Navy, and Air Staff, pending consultations with the Council of State.
Lieutenant General William Agyapong Agyapong, an infantry officer commissioned in 1990, has over three decades of military experience, having joined the GAF in 1988. He has held key roles, including Director of Army Administration (2016-2018), Director General of Defence Industries (2021), and commander of Operation Vanguard, an anti-illegal mining task force (2017).
His international peacekeeping experience spans missions in Liberia (ECOMOG), Gambia (ECOMIG), Lebanon (UNIFIL), Rwanda (UNAMIR), and Chad/Central African Republic (MNURCAT). He served as a strategic planner at the UN Secretariat (2013-2016) and, since September 2023, as Military Advisor to Ghana’s UN Permanent Representative.
Academically, Lieutenant General William Agyapong holds a Master of Military Arts and Science (Fort Leavenworth, USA), a Master of Science in Professional Accountancy (University of London), a Master of Arts in International Security and Strategy (King’s College London), and a Diploma in Forensic Accounting (Brentwood Institute, UK). He is a Chartered Accountant and a member of the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA).
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