Executive Committee (EXECOM)
MAJOR GENERAL EMMANUEL W KOTIA
COMMISSIONER GENERAL
Dr Emmanuel Wekem Kotia is a Major General of the Ghana Armed Forces. He has served honourably with the military colours for 40 years. He has distinguished himself as an international analyst and expert in Defence and Security over the years. He is an astute lecturer and speaker at various national and international forums on topics related international/national security, international politics and defence studies. General Kotia is the founding Commissioner General of the Ghana Boundary Commission since 2019. His immediate past appointment before then was Commander of the Western Sector of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo from 2018 to 2019. He had previously served as the Deputy Commandant of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), Ghana from 2015 to 2018. By way of academic qualifications, he holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree (First Class Honours) in Political Science from the University of Ghana, Master of Science Degree (MSc) in Global Security from the Cranfield University of the United Kingdom; and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Political Science from the University of Ghana. He was appointed a Clinical Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at the Kennesaw State University, USA in 2013. He delivered a three-credit course for students of the PhD and Master’s Courses in International Conflict Management at the Kennesaw State University from 2013 to 2017. He was also appointed a Visiting Lecturer of University of Bedfordshire in the United Kingdom in 2014 to 2018 where he taught a three-credit course in peace and security for the International Relations post graduate course.
General Kotia was commissioned into the Ghana Armed Forces in 1986 into the Artillery Corps of the Ghana Army after enlistment to the military as an Officer Cadet on 2 November 1984. Within the Ghana military he was the Commanding Officer of the 66 Artillery Regiment of the Ghana Army from 2005 to 2009. He also served as a Directing Staff/Lecturer at the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College from 2009 to 2011. He was the Chief Instructor and Academic Programmes Coordinator of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre from 2011 to 2016. He served as one of the longest serving instructors at the Ghana Military Academy from 1993 to 2000. He was awarded a Long Service and Good Conduct Medal by the Ghana Armed Forces in August 2001. He has served in several UN Peace Operations as a peacekeeper, including four tours with the UN Mission in Lebanon (1987,1991,2000/2001 and 2006/2007). He was the Commanding Officer of the Ghana Battalion with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon from 2006 to 2007. Other Peace Operations missions he has served are: ECOMOG (Liberia, 1990), MINURSO (Western Sahara, 1994), UNTAC (Cambodia, 1992), UNAMIR (Rwanda, 1993), MONUC (DRC, 2002) and MONUSCO (DRC, 2018/2019).
General Kotia led the process of acquiring Institutional and Programmes Accreditation for the running academic courses at the Ghana Armed Force Command and Staff College (GAFCSC) and KAIPTC. He was subsequently the lead consultant that developed the KAIPTC Master of Arts degree courses in Conflict, Peace and Security (2012); Gender, Peace and Security (2013); and the PhD course in International Conflict Management (2016). He taught two courses on the KAIPTC academic programmes namely: Gender, War and Conflict in Africa and National Security Framework from 2012 to 2018. He also lectured and supervised dissertations for the PhD course at KAIPTC in International Conflict Management. He has supervised and examined over 40 dissertations for the various masters’ courses at KAIPTC. He also led the development of the Master of Science course in Defence and International Politics for the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College (GAFCSC) in 2014. He teaches the core courses on: Theories and Analysis of Defence; and Peace Operations in Contemporary Perspectives at the GAFCSC Master of Science course. He has supervised and examined over 60 MSc dissertations in Defence and International Politics at GAFCSC. He is currently an Adjunct lecturer for the Masters of Laws (LLM) course on National Security Law at the University of Ghana Law School; He teaches as an adjunct lecturer for the Masters course in Peace, Security and Intelligence Management; and the PhD course in International Security and Intelligence at the University of Professional Studies, Accra. He also briefly served as an Adjunct Lecturer for the Masters course in International Relations at Webster University (Accra Campus). He was appointed as the sole consultant for the development of a PhD course in
International Security and Intelligence for UPSA in 2021. General Kotia was a Consultant for the Constitution Review Commission of Ghana; and he also served as a member of a team of experts which drafted the National Peace Council Bill of Ghana (Act 818). He was the chairperson of a committee that drafted the Security and Intelligence Act of Ghana (Act 1030, 2020); and the National Signals Bureau Act of Ghana (Act 1040, 2020). He served as a consultant and the sole resource expert for the establishment of the Ghana Police Command and Staff College in 2014. He chaired a Technical Working Groups that developed the first National Security Strategy for Ghana, 2020; and the National Framework for the Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism and Terrorism in Ghana, 2019. He was the lead consultant who led the drafting of Legislative Instruments for the Ministry of National Security and all the Intelligence Agencies under the Ministry. He served as a member of the Governing Board of the Ghana Police Command and Staff College; a member of the Advisory Board of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ghana (2017 to 2019); and a member of the Board of Directors of E-crime Bureau, Ghana (2015 to 2019). General Kotia has served as a regular facilitator to the Parliament of Ghana for orientation workshops and other related workshops on National Security Perspectives for Members of Parliament from 2013 to 2024.
General Kotia has published a number of papers/articles to his credit. They include: the Unwinding of UN Peace Operations in Africa; the Principle and Reality of Legislative Oversight on Defence Matters in Liberal Democracies; Understanding the Geo-Politics of the War in Southern Lebanon; the Global Effects of the 33-day War in Lebanon; Gender and Conflicts in Africa: Gains and Losses; Liberia: History of the Origins of War and Profile of Actors; Military Professionalism in Peacekeeping; An Evolving Security Dilemma: Adopting a Comprehensive Approach to the Changing Dynamics of Terrorism in Africa; and Emerging Security Issues in Africa. He was the main reviewer of the book on Indigenous African Warfare authored by Colonel Festus Aboagye (retired). He has authored a book titled: Ghana Armed Forces in Lebanon and Liberia Peace Operations. The book was published by Lexington Books, USA in May 2015. The book has been adopted as a textbook by notable institutions of higher learning for the running of the post graduate courses. He is a visiting lecturer/facilitator to several institutions and universities within and outside Ghana notably including: Ghana Police Command and Staff College; University of Professional Studies, Ghana; University of Ghana School of Law; University of Bedfordshire (UK); Kennesaw State University (USA); the United States Military Academy at West Point; and Webster University. His areas of research interest are in Defence Studies; International/National Security; and International Politics.
Personal Contacts
Email: ekotia@yahoo.com.
Mobile/WhatsApp: +233208154037
Website: Emmanuel Kotia (emmakotia.org)