President Akufo-Addo responding to cheers from family members of the graduating officers.
Government has procured and presented 33 new armoured vehicles to the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF).
President Akufo-Addo, who made the disclosure yesterday, said “this is part of efforts to retool the Armed Forces to enable them to fight terrorist threat and protect the territorial integrity of the country.”
He made the remarks during the commissioning of 132 officers into the Armed Forces at a colourful ceremony held at the parade ground of the Ghana Military Academy at Teshie in Accra.
He promised to continuously provide the military with the necessary resources so they can perform their traditional roles.
the Military Career in Regular Career to Senior Under Officer (SUO)
to Bernard Nketia at the ceremony
As Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, he charged the graduating officers to strive to keep the name and image of the Ghana Armed Forces in high esteem.
He said, “Ghana occupies a very respectable and envious position on the world stage and it is regarded as the beacon of stability on the continent as well as enjoying the pride of place in the area of peacekeeping.”
“You are, thus, to guard yourselves against acts that are likely to bring the name of our beloved country and the image of the Ghana Armed Forces into disrepute,” he added.
“Your actions should be to enhance or at the very least maintain the standards set by predecessor generations of officers of the Armed Forces,” he stressed.
He cautioned the newly commissioned officers to be mindful of the fact that their military uniforms were not meant to intimidate civilians but for their protection and for securing the territorial integrity of the nation.
At the end of the day, Barnette Nketiah was adjudged the best all-round officer Cadet of regular career course 59. He was given the sword of honour, while the Chief of the Air Staff award went to CSM Buerno, with the Chief of the Naval Staff award (Sextant award) going to JUO Sarpong.
The Chief of Army Staff award went to SUO Nketiah, while the Chief of Defence Staff award was picked by JUO Abuyah.
The Ghana Military Academy is one of the training schools under the Military Academy and Training Schools (MATS) as a unit. It is solely responsible for the training of officers for commissioning into the Ghana Armed Forces services – Ghana Army, Ghana Navy and the Ghana Air Force.
Entrance to the academy is by examination, and the curriculum includes military and general subjects. Duration of the course for army cadets is two years.
At the end of the first six months, a few candidates may be selected to finish their studies at foreign institutions such as the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst in Britain.
The Ghana Military Academy was established in 1960 as the Regular Officers’ Training School which trained both Ghanaian and Nigerian officer cadets who furthered their training at Sandhurst.
While some cadets pass out as regular officers, others do so as short service commissioned officers for careers in the various departments of the military such as engineering, medical, nursing and others.
Armoured cars are used by the RECCE Regiment — the No 1 Recce at Burma Camp in Accra and No 2 in Sunyani.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent