Brigadier General Michael Opoku, has been relieved of his duties, as the General Officer Commanding (GOC) Central Command, which is headquartered in the Ashanti Region.
Brigadier General Ogaja, has since replaced him as part of the massive shake-up within the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), which is being effected by the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Lieutenant General William Agyapong.
The two officers, accompanied by several senior military personnel, paid a courtesy call on the Ashanti Regional Minister, Dr Frank Amoakohene, at the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) last Wednesday.
Brigadier General Opoku, who previously served as Director of Operations at the National Security Secretariat, has long been regarded as a controversial figure.
In January 2017, he abandoned his role as Director of Fitness of the GAF to the surprise of many of his superior officers.
He took up a position at the National Security Secretariat, Castle Annex, until the Akufo-Addo government, regularised his position.
His name featured prominently in the aftermath of the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election violence, where masked men believed to be under his command were involved in acts of brutality, including the assault and shooting of National Democratic Congress (NDC) supporters, some of whom sustained life-altering injuries.
He was again mentioned in connection with the 2024 general elections, accused of being part of a broader scheme allegedly orchestrated by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to use military personnel to foment unrest, particularly in the Ashanti Region.
The NDC, held a press conference ahead of the 2024 general election, during which Brigadier General Opoku and other individuals were named in relation to this alleged plot.
During the RCC meeting, Dr Amoakohene, officially welcomed Brigadier General Ogaja as the new GOC for the Central Command and the Ashanti Region.
“I expressed deep appreciation to the outgoing GOC, Brigadier General Michael Opoku, for his dedicated service and invaluable contributions to the peace and security of the Ashanti Region,” he said.
“I encouraged the incoming GOC, Brigadier General Ogaja, to build on this legacy and work even harder in the service of our region and the nation as a whole. We look forward to continued collaboration in safeguarding the stability and development of our beloved region and country.”
It is not clear, where next Military high command, will send him.
He appeared before a Justice Emile Short Commission of Enquiry, which investigated the violence that occurred on January 31, 2019, during the by-election in the Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency.
Justice Prof Henrietta Mensah-Bonsu and ex-IGP Patrick K. Acheampong, were members. Ernest Kofi Abotsi, a former Dean of the Faculty of Law of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) and a private legal practitioner, served as the commission’s secretary.