Hajia Alima Mahama with Dominic Nitiwul
The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Hajia Alima Mahama has directed all 254 Metropolitan Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCE) to personally see to the raising of funds at the local level in support of Ghanaian Veterans.
This was part of the sector minister’s contribution to ensuring that enough funds were raised to cater for the welfare of veterans and their dependents as the world marks the Remembrance Day on November 11.
The minister gave the directive when she launched the 2019 Poppy Appeal at a Military Band Concert which was organized by Veteran Administration of Ghana (VAG) on Thursday October 10, 2019.
The poppy appeal is a fund raising period where support is solicited from the public to cater for needy and incapacitated veterans.
The period is marked with the wearing of an aesthetic poppy flower that has a colour of red, black and green which respectively depicts blood of dead soldiers, mourning and hope.
Hajia Mahama indicated that the gallantry and sacrifices of war veterans of Ghanaian origin who were conscripted into the British army by virtue of Gold Coast being a British colony, had led to a relatively free and safer world today.
The wars fought she said also busted the myth of white supremacy thereby kindling the flames of nationalism and independence that eventually led to the liberation of the country from colonial rule.
“Ghanaian soldiers who fought alongside their white colonial masters got to learn that the white man was not a superman. He could be frightened like the black man and could cry loudly when in pain like the black man” she said.
At a time when the wearing of the poppy seems to be losing its significance among Ghanaians, the minister has asked VAG to intensify its sensitization effort to educate Ghanaians on the contribution and sacrifices of veterans.
She also urged them to look at innovative ways of generating revenue to augment proceeds from sale of poppies, donations and government subvention.
The Executive Director of VAG, Captain Ben Duah rtd., disclosed that VAG has over 19000 members that included 116 world war II veterans.
He therefore appealed to corporate institutions to come on board to support veterans by contributing generously to this year’s celebration.
Some dignitaries present at the event included the Minister of Defence, Dominic Nitiwul and the Chief of Defence Staff, Lt. Gen. Obed Akwa.
By Issah Mohammed