Winston Mensa-Wood

Lieutenant General Winston Mensa-Wood was a former Ghanaian military officer and served as the twenty-third Chief of Defence Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces from June 1990 to March 1992. He took over from Lieutenant General Arnold Quainoo but died in office. He was replaced by Air Marshal Achilles Harry Kwami Dumashie.

Career He enlisted in the Ghana Army in 1961. After returning from the V. I. Lenin Military-Political Academy in October 1962, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. He entered the Ghana Military Academy in 1963, passing out on 30 March 1964 as full lieutenant. He attended a Royal Engineers officers course at Chatham-Kent in the United Kingdom. He was commissioned Captain in March 1967 and the officer commanding the Number Two Squadron Field Engineers Regiment. He was promoted to Major in 1972. He also studied Advanced Engineering in Virginia, United States. He became a Lieutenant Colonel in July 1977. In 1982, as Colonel, he was appointed the Director-General (Logistics) at the Ministry of Defence. He later became Commander of the Headquarters Support Services Brigade. He attained the rank of Major General prior to becoming the Commandant of the Military Academy and Training School at Teshie, Accra.

Role in government In June 1987, he was appointed Army Commander and also a member of the PNDC, the ruling military government in Ghana. In 1990, he became the General Officer Commanding the Ghana Armed Forces. He was promoted Lieutenant General three months before his death.