Lieutenant General Emmanuel Alexander Erskine has died. The retired Ghanaian soldier and politician was 86-years-old.

He was the first commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) from 1978 to 1981.

He was also a former Chief of Army Staff of the Ghana Army and commanded the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon

Lt. Gen. Erskine was one of the founding members of the People’s Heritage Party (PHP).

He is survived by a wife and eight children.