Major General Lawrence Kwaku Gbetanu was enlisted into the Ghana Military Academy in 1989 and was commissioned on 16 August 1991 as an Infantry Officer. He has served in various capacities in the Ghana Armed Forces. These include Platoon Commander, Intelligence Officer and Adjutant of the 4 Infantry Battalion. He was also an Instructor at the Army Recruit Training School, Shai Hills, GSO II (Operations and Training) at the Support Services Brigade Camp Group as well as Second- in- command and Commanding Officer of the 5 Infantry Battalion. Other appointments include Directing Staff, Chief Instructor Army Faculty, Chief Instructor Joint Studies and Chief Coordinator at the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College. He served as the Assistant Director Army Operations and Director of Civilian Staff at the Army Headquarters. He also served as Deputy Director General, Department of Defence Industries at the General Headquarters and Deputy Commandant at the Ghana Armed Forces Training and Doctrine Command.
Major General Gbetanu has completed all career progression courses commensurate
with his rank. These include Intelligence Officers Course, Young Officers’ Course,
Junior Staff Course, Combat Team Commanders’ Course, Senior Command and Staff Course
at Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College, and Tactical Operations Staff Course
in Mali.
Maj Gen Gbetanu has participated in some events outside the shores of Ghana.
Notable among them are the Directing Staff Seminar/Workshop at the Advanced Command
and Staff College, United Kingdom, the Africa Conference of Commandants- Chief
Instructors Workshop at the South Africa National War College, in Pretoria, and the
Africa Centre for Strategic Studies workshop on curriculum development in Botswana
and later in the US Naval Academy, Maryland - USA. He was an Observer on the Combined
Joint African Exercise (CJAX) at the South Africa National War College, in Pretoria
and a Directing Staff of the Tactical Operations Staff Course in Ottawa, Canada.
Maj Gen Gbetanu has a rich experience in International Peace Keeping, having served
with the ECOWAS mission in Liberia and the United Nations Peacekeeping Missions in
Lebanon, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire. He also served with the United Nations
Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) as the Deputy Military Liaison
Officer to Burundi and Chief of Staff, of the United Nations Interim Security Force for
Abyei (UNISFA) Sudan/ South Sudan. Additionally, he was seconded to UNISFA as Political
Affairs Officer and member of the Mission Leadership Team. Prior to his appointment as
the Chief of the Army Staff, he was on secondment to UNISFA as the Senior Programme
Management Officer responsible for developing Mission policies, strategies and plans.
Academically, he holds a Post Graduate Certificate in Public Administration, a Post Graduate
Diploma in Public Administration and Bachelor of Science in Public Administration from
the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration. Other academic qualifications
include Master of Science in Defence and International Politics, and certificates in Defence
Management, Conflict and Crisis Management as well as Peace Operations from the Ghana Armed
Forces Command and Staff College..
Major General Lawrence Kwaku Gbetanu is a family man, married to Patience Dzifa Adeti.
He enjoys Fitness training and reading.
