Col Zanlerigu. The Army Commander who died for Kwame Nkrumah
Colonel David Gbon Zanlerigu (retd) was on the Nkrumaist platforms when party political formations began to sprout ostensibly in the name of social groups such as the Danquah-Busia Club and Heritage Club.
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Dr Hilla Limann and his loyalists had argued that it was his presidential term which was truncated by the 1981 coup, and so he must be given the opportunity to continue his administration. Col Zanlerigu was faithful to Dr Limann.
After Dr Limann was humiliated by the Convention People’s Party (CPP) old guards and Peoples National Convention (PNC) stalwarts, he realised that it was time to be resolute. When he formed the PNC, Col Zanlerigu was one of the personalities who supported Dr Limann. He was a member of the Council of Elders of the PNC.
He stood steadfast with the PNC and remained a loyal member of the party until his passing away on May 4 this year. Just as in the military, he fought the makers of the 1966 coup, ready to die for President Kwame Nkrumah. In politics, he upheld the CPP political tradition in the reincarnation of the PNC and died as an elderly guru of the party.
Military career
Before becoming a politician, he had an illustrious career in the Armed Forces of Ghana. Col Zanlerigu told me in February 2014 when I visited him in Bolgatanga to interview him that he attended the Native Authority Primary School at Zuarungu in the Northern Territories from 1938 to 1941. The interview is the raw material for a manuscript that I am writing on the life and career of Col Zanlerigu.
From 1942 to 1945, he went to the Middle School in Tamale. He attended the Native Authority Agricultural Instructors Course, Tamale from 1945 to 1947. He became a learner at the Fanti Gold Mine in Aboso from 1947 to 1948. He later worked on the Grounds and Gardens of Achimota Secondary School, Accra till June 1949 when he was recruited and trained at the Armed Forces Training Centre (AFTC), Kumasi till June 1950.
From July 1950 to January 1951, he was promoted as a Non-Commissioned Officer after he was trained at the AFTC. He attended the Weapon Training Course at the Command Training School (CTS) in Accra from January to April 1951 and was appointed a Weapon Training Instructor and stationed at the AFTC from April to September 1951. From October to December 1951, Col Zanlerigu was at the Weapon Training Course in Wythe, England.
He became a Weapon Training Instructor at the CTS in Teshie, Accra from 1952 to 1953 and a Weapon Training Instructor at the AFTC from 1953 to 1955. From April to October 1956, he attended the Officer Cadet Training Course in Teshie and travelled to Chester, England in October 1956 to partake in the Officer Cadet Training Course which ended in February 1957. From that month till April, he was appointed the Platoon Commander of the first West Yorkshire Regiment in Colchester, England.
From April to October 1957, he assumed the role of the Platoon Commander of the third Ghana Regiment in Takoradi. His capabilities and competence earned him a place at the Mechanical Transport Officer’s Course in Borden, England from October to December 1957. Then from 1958 to June 1960, he was the Transport Officer of the third Ghana Regiment in Accra. Between June and December 1960, he was the Company Commander of the third Ghana Regiment in Zaire (now DR Congo). Again, Col Zanlerigu attended the Company Commanders Course, School of Infantry, England from January to April 1961.
Between May and July 1961, he became the Company Commander of the second Ghana Regiment in Zaire. From August 1961 to December 1963, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first President, confirmed Col Zanlerigu as the Officer Commanding the President’s Guard Company.
Connection with Dr Nkrumah
How did you come to be associated with Nkrumah? “I was a soldier and as a soldier wherever they post you, you perform your duty. I was posted to have command over all the soldiers who were responsible for the safety of the President, his family and also the safety of all the people who were taking care of the President at the Castle or Flagstaff House. I was not having any conversation with Nkrumah. I had to take orders from him,” he told me.
Then from 1964 till February 24, 1966, he was the Commanding Officer of the President’s Own Guard Regiment. “An army revolution overthrew President Kwame Nkrumah’s government today while he was on a visit to North Vietnam and communist China. Fighting between troops and the President’s security guard was continuing four hours later in Dr Nkrumah’s Flagstaff House residence. Other reports said bombs had been hurled at the house of Lieutenant-Colonel David C. (sic) Zanlerigu, who is the Chief of the presidential guard. One report said he was killed,” an Australian newspaper, The Age (of February 25, 1966), reported.
It was even reported that Col Zanlerigu who is rightly considered and acclaimed as President Nkrumah’s Last Lead Defender was shot dead. However, he managed to escape from his residence through a window of a room in his bungalow. Legend has it that he magically evaporated into thin air when the coup soldiers went into his residence in search of him. The colonel did not accept the legend though, but many are not convinced. He fought the traitorous coup makers at the Flagstaff House till his troops run out of ammunition. He unconditionally surrendered to save lives and property from death and destruction. From 1966 till December 1967, he was imprisoned at the Ussher Fort in Accra.
According to historical records, the President’s Own Guard Regiment was given special treatment while the rest of the soldiers were neglected to wearing torn uniforms. Is that not true? “No. No. That is not true. We also had our uniforms from the general armed forces, but we had to be smartly and properly dressed because of visiting Heads of State to the Flagstaff House. We were also protecting visiting VIPs. We were not given or treated with special treatment,” Col Zanlerigu responded.
Civil calling
From January to June 1968, he was on terminal leave from the Armed Forces. From June to September 1968, he underwent the Personnel Manager’s Induction Course in Ibadan, Nigeria, then from October 1968 to April 1970, he was appointed the Factory Personnel Manager of the Pioneer Tobacco Company (PTC) in Takoradi. He was enrolled into the Introduction to Personnel Management Course at the Management Development and Productivity Institute (MDPI) from April-May 1970. From June-November 1970, Col Zanlerigu was the Factory Personnel Manager of PTC. He also participated in the Induction to Management Course in Ibadan from November-December 1970. From January-April 1971, he attended the Personnel Management Course of the Industrial Society, London. He then continued as the Factory Personnel Manager of PTC till September 1976 when he updated his knowledge and skills at the Job Evaluation Course of the Industrial Society, London.
From April 1978 to April 1979, he was the Chief of Administration and Personnel at the Upper Regional Agricultural Development Programme, a World Bank-funded project, in Bolgatanga. In April 1979, he resigned to do politics and won the parliamentary election. From September 1979, he was the Member of Parliament for the Talensi-Nabdam Constituency till Dr Limann appointed him Minister for Works and Housing in October 1979.
Close shave with death
On December 31, 1981 when Flt Lt J.J. Rawlings and his cohorts torpedoed the constitutionally elected People's National Party (PNP) government, Col Zanlerigu escaped to Burkina Faso. That was the second time that he had a close shave, after he sneaked out of his bungalow when some minions of the 1966 coup makers ambushed him and sought to arrest, or kill him in the worst case scenario. He remained in exile till August 8, 1989, when he returned and resumed his long-denied pension status as a retired army office.
On December 12, 2015, President John Dramani Mahama conferred the Companion of the Order of the Volta on Col Zanlerigu for his meritorious and valourous contribution to the development of Ghana as a soldier, military strategist, human resource manager and developer, politician and farmer. He was married and had children, with his son and grandson being commissioned military officers. He was buried in his village, Zanlerigu, nine miles from Bolgatanga on October 15. May his soul rest in perfect peace.
