REAR ADMIRAL ISSAH YAKUBU
Rear Admiral Issah Yakubu was born on 10 March 1965 in Tamale, the
Northern Region of Ghana.
After completion of his first cycle education, he proceeded to the
Tamale Secondary School
where he attained his Ordinary Level and Advanced Level Certificates in
1984 and 1986
respectively.
He was enlisted into the Ghana Armed Forces in 1987, trained at the
Ghana
Military Academy as part of Regular Career Course Intake 29, and was
commissioned into the
Ghana Navy as an Executive Officer in 1991. Subsequently, he had his
International
Midshipmen and International Sub-Lieutenants Courses at the Britannia
Royal Naval College,
Dartmouth and the School of Maritime Operations, Portsmouth both in the
United Kingdom (UK),
from April 1993 to April 1994 and from September 1994 to April 1995
respectively. He was
adjudged the best international student on both courses.
In 1996, Rear Admiral Yakubu had his Junior Staff Course at the Armed
Forces Command and
Staff College (AFCSC), Jaji in Nigeria. From 2002 to 2003, he completed
his Senior Command
and Staff Course at the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College
(GAFCSC) Teshie –
Accra, where he emerged as
the best Naval student. Other courses undertaken by Rear Admiral Yakubu include Naval Staff Course at the Naval War College in Rhode Island, USA in 2005, the International Maritime Operations Course at the Coast Guard Training Centre, Virginia, USA in 2006, the International Disaster Management Course at Resilience Centre of Cranefield University, UK in 2007 and the Naval Command Course at the Naval War College, Rhode Island, USA from July 2015 to June 2016. He received the coveted Honourable Mention for Leadership during his Naval Command Course.
Rear Admiral Yakubu has held various appointments in the course of his
career starting with
Administrative Officer at the Naval Base Sekondi from February 1991 to
October 1992 and
Watch-Keeping Officer on board Ghana Navy Ships (GNSs), ACHIMOTA and YOGAGA
from October
1992 to June 1997 and then as Executive Officer on GNS SEBO from July 1997
to March 1999.
During the period on board these three ships, he participated in the
military intervention
in Liberia and Sierra Leone as part of the ECOWAS Ceasefire Monitoring Group
(ECOMOG).
Following that, he served as the Officer-in-Charge of the Communications
School at the Basic
and Leadership Training School at the Naval Base Tema, from March 1999 to
April 2000 and as
the Officer-in-Charge of Naval Cadet Training at the Regional Maritime
Academy (now Regional
Maritime University) from April 2000 to January 2001.
Afterwards, he was appointed the first Executive Officer of GNS ANZONE in
January 2001 and
was part of the crew that sailed the Ship from Alaska, USA, on its maiden
voyage to Ghana.
In September 2003, he proceeded to the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia
and Eritrea
(UNMEE) as a Military Observer and returned in September 2004 to assume the
post of Acting
Commanding Officer, Basic and Leadership Training School at the Naval Base
Tema. He returned
to the Fleet in June 2005 and was appointed Commanding Officer of GNS ANZONE
where he served
from June 2005 to June 2006. As Commanding Officer of GNS ANZONE, he was
instrumental in the
arrest of MV BENJAMIN, which was trafficking cocaine to Ghana. He was
commended for his
professionalism and resourcefulness in the Report of the Georgina Woode
Committee that
investigated the MV BENJAMIN saga.
Rear Admiral Yakubu’s next appointment was as a Directing Staff at the Ghana
Armed Forces
Command and Staff College (GAFCSC), Teshie – Accra, from September 2006 to
October 2008, and
at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College (AFCSC), Jaji in Nigeria from
October 2008 to
October 2010. He returned to GAFCSC as Directing Staff in October 2010 and
later appointed
as the Acting Chief Instructor of the Naval Faculty from July 2011 to
December 2011. He was
then posted back to the Fleet and appointed Commanding Officer of Ex-German
Navy Warship,
which was later named GNS YAA ASANTEWAA in December 2011 and he subsequently
sailed the ship
as its first Commanding Officer from Germany on its maiden voyage to Ghana.
In November 2012, he was posted to the Naval Headquarters where he initially
served as the
Director Naval Administration till July 2015 and then as the Acting Chief
Staff Officer from
July 2016 to April 2017. He was promoted to the substantive rank of
Commodore and appointed
substantive Chief Staff Officer in May 2017. He served in that capacity till
August 2019
when he was appointed Ghana’s Defence Attaché-designate to London, UK.
Subsequently, Rear Admiral Yakubu was appointed Chief of Staff at the
General Headquarters
of the Ghana Armed Forces from 18 February 2020 to 5 February 2021 when he
assumed the helm
as Acting Chief of the Naval Staff based on the appointment by the President
of the Republic
and Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces. He was confirmed as the
18th Chief of the
Naval Staff (CNS) by the President on 4 March 2021. During the course of his
career, Admiral
Yakubu has been awarded for several accomplishments and also honoured with
several medals
including commemorative medals and those attained on international peace
operations such as
the ECOWAS Ceasefire Monitoring Group in Liberia (ECOMOG) and with the
United Nations
Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) among others.
Admiral Yakubu holds a Master of Arts Degree in International Relations from
the Salve
Regina University, USA and a Post-graduate Diploma in Public Administration
from the Ghana
Institute of Management and Public Administration. He is an avid researcher
and has authored
numerous papers on maritime security and strategy. He is Co-Author and
Co-Editor of the
official history of the Ghana Navy titled “History of the Ghana Navy: A Case
for a Credible
Naval Force for National Development”.
He is married with children and enjoys reading, swimming and playing golf.
