Vice Admiral Issah Yakubu 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.

Vice Admiral Issah Yakubu has held various appointments in the course of his career starting with Administrative Officer at the Naval Base Sekondi , Executive Officer on GNS SEBO, Officer-in-Charge of the Communications School at the Basic and Leadership Training School at the Naval Base Tema, Officer-in-Charge of Naval Cadet Training at the Regional Maritime Academy (now Regional Maritime University), Executive Officer of GNS ANZONE, Acting Commanding Officer, Basic and Leadership Training School at the Naval Base Tema. 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.

Vice Admiral Issah 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

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 Defense Attaché-designate to London, UK.

Subsequently, Vice 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 of Ghana on 4 March 2021.

Vice 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”.