The Government has declared that this year, the Ghana Armed Forces will continue to conduct operations aimed at enforcing the law both at sea and ashore.
These operations include patrols on the Volta Lake and drug enforcement, in support of the Ghana Maritime Authority and the Narcotics Control Commission.
The Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, announcing this during the Presentation of the 2021 Budget Statement in Parliament, said that a total of 1,043 recruits passed out successfully in March and April, and that 168 Officer Cadets were commissioned into GAF in November 2020.
“In 2021, the Ghana Armed Forces will further recruit about 3,000 personnel, as well as enhance capacity building for about 350 personnel,” he noted.
The Minister intimated that, construction of a Forward Operating Base (FOB) at Ezinlibo in the Western Region was 10 per cent complete. This, he said, was within the context of the Government’s National Strategic Programme, meant to protect Ghana’s natural resources including Oil and Gas.
“Government has also given approval for the establishment of 12 additional Forward Operating Bases and three Logistic Centres dotted along Ghana’s northern borders. This is to prevent cross-border crimes and terrorist infiltration,” he stated.
He disclosed that the Government had awarded a contract for the procurement of High Technology (HiTech) Communication equipment, including Night Vision Binoculars and Monoculars for the GAF, to improve night operations. The Minister added that Value for Money (VFM) Audit had been conducted by the Ministry of Finance before the acquisition process commenced.
Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu indicated that a 25-bed Infectious Disease Control Centre at the 37 Military Hospital had been commissioned by Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia on September 30, 2020 and that the facility was operational.
“Infrastructural work on the 500-bed Military Hospital at Afari in Kumasi was 85 pervcent complete (as at December 2020), and the overall completion and installation of medical equipment was at 58 per cent,” Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said.
According to him, the Ministry would in 2021 continue with the infrastructural and installational works, to ensure completion and use of the facility. He intimated that the implementation of the Armed Forces (Amendment) Regulation 2020 was operational.
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House