At the end of 1980, he succeeded Badrissein Sital as chairman of the National Military Council.

On December 22, 1990, Dési Bouterse resigned as commander of the army, because of the growing disagreement between him and President Ramsewak Shankar.

He also felt that Shankar did not defend him enough, when he was blocked at the Schiphol Airport by the Dutch police as he tried to speak to the present Surinamese people.

Graanoogst ruled temporarily for five days, up to 29 December 1990, when the National Military Council decided to hand over power to Johan Kraag.

In August 2010, when Desi Bouterse became the President of Suriname, he appointed Graanoogst as Secretary of the cabinet.