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Established on 19 March 1978 to deal with security problems between Lebanon and Israel, Ghana can rightly claim ownership of UNIFIL. It was a Ghanaian diplomat-soldier, Lt. Gen. Emmanuel Alexander Ato Erskine, having served as Chief of Staff in UNEF II and UNTSO, who inaugurated and commanded UNIFIL. In his book Mission with UNIFIL: An African Soldiers Reflections, Gen. Erskine wrote, If UNEF II and UNTSO were my training institutions, UNIFIL was to be the institution for practical application, All the techniques learnt in keeping the peace in UNEF II, and the negotiation techniques learnt in peace-making in UNTSO, had to be put in practice in UNIFIL.
The beginnings of UNIFIL were rough and tough. It took the Ghanaian Force Commander some time to mould and give the right image to the newly created multinational peace force. I built the mission from almost nothing. In the first six months, there was not much hope for UNIFIL survival. I am happy it is there and continue to play a major role in the Middle East peace process. I am happy I did not let Ghana and Africa down; I did not let the UN down; I did not let the troop-contributing nations down; I did not let world peace down.
General Erskine commanded UNIFIL from 1978 to 1981. The current Force Commander of UNIFIL, Maj.-Gen. Seth Kofi Obeng, is also a Ghanaian. Maj.-Gen. Obeng has extensive peacekeeping experience, having served as Deputy Force Commander of the United Nations Observer Mission in Angola (MONUA) from May 1998 to 31 October 1999.
Ghanaian troops have participated in UNIFIL from 1979 up to today. The first Ghanaian contingent was composed of soldiers serving in UNEF II who were absorbed into UNIFIL after the end of UNEF II mandate. By 20 May 2000, some 45,496 Ghanaian soldiers had served in UNIFIL. That there is peace in that Lebanon today, that the Israelis have completely withdrawn, and that Lebanese of all religious persuasions are enjoying peace are testimonies to the investment made by Gen. Erskine in UNIFIL when it was set up in 1978. Rating more than 45,000 soldiers between Accra and Beirut for peacekeeping assignments with UNIFIL, the Ghana Armed Forces has in no small way helped decorate the Middle East with peace. |
