Brigadier General Joseph Nunoo-Mensah has recounted an extraordinary journey from a barefoot childhood in Winneba to becoming Ghana’s Chief of Defence Staff, as he prepares to launch a memoir aimed at inspiring young people not to give up on their dreams.
Speaking on the Asaase Breakfast Show on Wednesday (11 February), the 89-year-old former security chief described growing up in a fishing family, walking to school without shoes and studying under streetlights because there was no electricity at home.
“I wore shoes only in my second year of school,” he said. “We were poor. Very poor. But I refused to follow the crowd.”
Nunoo-Mensah explained that he was the only child in his family who insisted on formal education, despite his father’s expectations that he become a fisherman.
“I just woke up one day and decided I would go to school. Nobody pushed me,” he recalled.
His fortunes changed after a British headmistress secured him a scholarship when his family could no longer afford fees — a moment he described as divine intervention.
“That woman took me to Accra and got me a full scholarship. That is how my education continued,” he said.
He later excelled academically, earned a Grade One in his exams and was recruited directly into the Ghana Military Academy, eventually rising to lead the armed forces.
His new book, I Don’t Follow the Crowd, traces that journey across nearly nine decades and highlights what he calls the importance of resilience, discipline and independent thinking.
“The lesson is simple,” he said. “If a fisherman’s son can become Chief of Defence Staff, then any young person can succeed.”
Nunoo-Mensah also used the platform to express concern about what he described as growing desperation and dishonesty among young people, urging them to resist shortcuts.
“We didn’t have much, but we didn’t steal. Today too many people give up too quickly,” he said. “Work hard. Build the country yourself.”
Beyond his military career, the retired general said he quietly supported many students through school fees over the years — a legacy he values more than his rank.
“What matters is not the title,” he noted. “It’s the lives you change.”
The 300-page memoir will be launched on February 20 at Christ the King Church Hall in Accra.
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