This chapter compares Ghana and Senegal, both of whose initial leaders attempted to create inclusive military institutions. Yet, Ghana quickly succumbed to a series of coups and counter-coups while Senegal remained politically stable. Early ethnic politicization is critical to understanding their different trajectories: in Ghana, pre-independence political party mobilization along ethnic lines created deep ethnic politicization that undermined Kwame Nkrumah's early attempts to build nationally representative institutions. When he began ethnically manipulating security institutions in the mid-1960s, disadvantaged soldiers soon rebelled. In Senegal, on the other hand, early political parties were built along an urban-rural divide, with the dominant party mobilizing support through linkages with the Islamic brotherhoods who controlled rural votes. With ethnicity exerting a negligible influence on politics, Léopold Senghor was able to consistently recruit inclusively into the military without encountering resistance.