Collins Owusu Amankwah
Parliament on Tuesday unanimously approved a loan facility of $100 million for the construction of houses for officers and men of the Ghana Armed Forces.
The project will include 176 two-bedroom flats, 160 two-bedroom half compound house, one military hostel with 240 self-contained rooms, one Platoon Commanders’ block containing four two-bed flats floor, a military academy auditorium with 640 capacity, one-storey classroom block for the military academy, an administration office block with 48 offices and conference rooms for the Military Academy and a fence wall around the entire Ghana Military Academy at Teshie.
Moving the motion for the approval of the loan facility, the vice chairman of the Committee on Defence and Interior, Collins Owusu Amankwah, said presently the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) is facing acute accommodation problems.
He indicated that the Akufo-Addo administration would religiously ensure that GAF is adequately provided with newly constructed accommodation and rehabilitate the existing dilapidated ones.
According to the vice chairman, who is also the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Manhyia North, in June 2017, President Akufo-Addo cut the sod for the construction of four housing units for GAF, while work on 20 blocks of flats commenced in Tamale from the internally generated funds (IGF) of GAF.
“In view of these accommodation challenges facing the Forces, the government formulated this project to address the challenges.”
“Since new officers and officers of other ranks are being enlisted and other ranks recruited every year, there is a situation where senior officers, including Majors and Lieutenant Colonels, are living in single rooms originally designed for young and unmarried officers until they are re-assigned bigger accommodation units,” he stated.
The Minority called for value for money report for the project, but the Deputy Minister of Defence, Major Derek Oduro (rtd) assured the House that it would be presented in due course.
By Thomas Fosu Jnr