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GOIL AWARDS CONTRACT TO 48 ENGINEER REGIMENT |
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 20 February 2013. Ghana Oil Company Ltd (GOIL) on Wednesday, 20 February 2013 awarded the 48 Engineer Regiment of the Ghana Armed Forces a contract to construct a fuel filling station at Teshie.
The project, to be constructed within the Military zone, is to enable both military personnel and civilians to have easy access to the services of GOIL.
Major Jonas Agyei Wiafe, Second-in-Command of the 48 Engineer Regiment, led a team of experts from GOIL to access the parcel of land reserved for the construction. The Engineering Service Manager in charge of the project, Mr. Ronald Kaaku, said the company awarded the contract to 48 Engineer Regiment as a sign of appreciation to GAF for releasing part of their land to the company.
He affirmed the abilities of the military as far as construction was concerned. “When it comes to construction works, the military is one of the best,” he said.
Mr. Kaaku also noted that the filling station would be sited at a strategic point to serve those plying the Labadi–Teshie road.
It is anticipated that the project would be completed within sixteen (16) weeks from its commencement.
The Regiment is currently carrying out a number of government projects, including the construction of school blocks in the Eastern Region, roads in the Volta Region and residential accommodation for some state organisations in the Greater Accra Region.
A second Engineer Regiment is to be established in Kintampo to expand these services to the northern parts of the country.
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LT GEN J H SMITH BOWS OUT |
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 22 February 2013. Lt Gen. Joseph Henry Smith has bade farewell to the Defence Ministry in a colourful ceremony organised in his honour at the Ministry of Defence (MOD) on Friday 22 February 2013. He was appointed Minister for Defence in February 2009.
Speaking at his farewell ceremony at The Square, Lt Gen Smith noted that, the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) contains a large pool of qualified professionals in various fields.
The Army, Navy and Airforce had excellent administrators, architects, pilots, civil engineers, marine engineers, aviation engineers, lawyers and others. These experts, he said, retire from active service at relatively young ages, most of them just fading away without their expertise being utilised.
To avert this situation, the Defence Industries Holding Company was establish to make it possible to pool the expertise of qualified veterans and civilians.
He stressed that under the current political dispensation, the military must not be seen as an instrument of coercion, intimidation and brutalisation of civilians but rather the protector and guarantor of the rights of all citizens.
In this direction, during his tenure, deliberate efforts have been sustained to consistently improve civilian- military relations for promoting national peace and cohesion. This, he said, will enable the general public to see the military as belonging to them in order to lend it their support.
Additionally, the Armed Forces saw a remarkable improvement in retooling and modernising to meet current defence needs.
A major step had also been taken to re-organise veterans by getting the Veteran’s Administration Law, Act 844 of 2012 enacted by the government. By this, retired military personnel are in a better position to mobilise their manpower for productive ventures that can make the Veteran’s Administration self-supportive.
In his remarks, the new Defence Minister, Hon. Mark Owen Woyongo, said he was happy about the strides made so far and promised to emulate his predecessor’s noble example to build on these achievements so that GAF and Veterans Administrators Ghana (VAG) would continue to be the pride of the nation.
Ghana, he noted, has become the beacon of peace, stability and democracy within the West African sub-region due to the efforts of GAF. Hence Ghana’s name and image abroad are highly respected as a result of the distinguished services rendered by both officers and men of the Ghana Armed Forces in United Nations peacekeeping missions across the globe.
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KAIPTC Launches 10th Anniversary and 1st Annual Kofi Annan/Dag Hammarskjöld Lecture |
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 20 February 2013. The Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) has launched its 10th Anniversary celebration and the maiden edition of the annual Kofi Annan/Dag Hammarskjöld Lecture. The anniversary was officially launched by the Minister for Defence, Hon Mark Woyongo, on behalf of the President, at KAIPTC in Accra.
The President, in his address, lauded KAIPTC for remaining the leading International Research and Training Centre of Excellence in the past ten years.
He also acknowledged the tremendous roles KAIPTC had and was still playing in training and research in multi-dimensional peace support operations across the globe. This had made the centre very relevant in the areas of training and research in peace support operations in the Region and indeed in Africa.
Touching on the launch of the Annual Kofi Annan/Dag Hammarskjöld Lecture, the President noted that the move to honour these two personalities was significant in many ways because of their dedication and hard work in ensuring peace and security in the world and especially in Africa.
He took the occasion to assure the KAIPTC of government’s continued support in peacekeeping training to enable Ghana to maintain its contribution to global peace and security.
The Commandant of KAIPTC, Air Vice Marshal Christian Dovlo, in his introductory remarks mentioned that the Centre had over the last ten years been recognised at the international front for the calibre of training programmes and research they performed that seek to inform and influence peace and security policies world-wide. He said the accreditation of the centre into a tertiary institution three years ago had opened an avenue for it to run programmes in the areas of peace and security. These, he said, were aimed at equipping participants with both the analytical skills and knowledge needed at strategic levels for national direction and governance.
Delivering the inaugural Kofi Annan/Dag Hammarskjöld Lecture on the topic “Peace-building: Perspectives and Challenges-Inter-linkages between peacekeeping, peace-building and state-building,” Ambassador Margrette Løj urged everyone involved with the Centre to continue to develop and adapt its activities in order to meet the challenges of peacekeeping of the future.
Ambassador Løj, who is a former Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Liberia, said national reconciliation must be a cross-cutting theme in all peace-building priorities.
“The role of the private sector and civil society organisations are also important and should be strengthened in order to achieve an enduring peace and a cohesive state,” she noted.
She also recommended that much interest should be developed in promoting national dialogue to address the root causes of conflict, and preparing and supporting national elections.
The Ambassador continued that peace-building in Africa or elsewhere could not be achieved without paying attention to women playing their supportive roles. She therefore urged peacemakers to make as one of their priorities, the concerns of women in issues relating to peacekeeping, peace-building and state-building.
Present were Dr Ibn Chambers, Joint Special Representative of UN/AU Mission in Dafur who was the chairman for the ceremony, Professor Henning Melber, Senior Advisor and Director Emeritus at the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation, Lt Gen Peter Augustine Blay, Chief of the Defence Staff, and Mr Mohammed Alhassan, Acting Inspector General of Police.
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NEW INSPECTOR GENERAL DEPARTMENT NOT TO WITCH HUNT |
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 18-21 February. The Chief of the Defence Staff, Lt Gen Peter Augustine Blay, has reminded all troops that the newly-established Inspector General Department in the Ghana Armed forces is not to “witch hunt” anyone but rather to serve as the “eye and ear of command.”
He stressed that the IG Department and the system put in place was basically to check misappropriations and misconceptions in the Armed Forces.
The CDS was speaking when closing a four-day workshop at Burma camp to explain the idea to selected troops and civilian employees. The workshop was organised by the IG Department in collaboration with the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) based in Germany, from 18-21 February 2013.
An AFRICOM resource person, Mr Colaninno, explained further that the IG System as practiced in the United States was to assist troops and their families by defending and protecting the rights. It was also to help investigate cases involving corruption, mistreatment, wrong-doing and abuse of office in the Armed Forces.
Mr Colaninno therefore noted that the workshop was aimed at providing participants adequate information to effectively conduct inspection and fact-finding using the IG System.
On his part, the Director General, Inspector General at the General Headquarters, Brig Gen K Oppong-Otchere, noted that the IG Department could greatly assist troops and the various departments to express their grievances as well as find solutions to problems affecting troops, civilian employees and GAF in general.
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21 February 2013. The President of the Republic of Ghana and Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, has stated that government would continue to resource and adequately equip the security services in the country to ensure that no Ghanaian felt unsafe in their lawful pursuit. He said government would continue to provide critical support capable of augmenting the developmental service mix of GAF while it was providing adequate security to all citizens.