Participants of the 2019 peace operation course in a group photograph with the German Ambassador, and other dignitaries
THE GHANA Armed Forces Command and Staff College (GAFCSC), has completed this year’s Combined Joint African Exercise (CJAX) to officially end its Peace Operations Course 2019.
The three weeks course, designed to deepen participants’ awareness on international global issues, the changing roles of the Armed Forces, fostering civil/military relations and enhancing interests in national development, was attended by students at the senior division level of the college, which included 40 military personnel from the Ghana Armed Forces, while the rest were from thirteen other sister African countries and civilians.
Countries that participated included Botswana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Tanzania, South Africa, Togo, Sierra Leone and Zambia.
Participants were taken through a two week intensive course on Peace Operations, while the third week was used to practice all what they have learnt in an exercise – codenamed Combined Joint Africa Exercise (CJAX).
At the closing ceremony held at the Kofi Anna International Peacekeeping Training center, (KAIPTC) in Accra, the German Ambassador to Ghana – Christoph Retzlaff, revealed that the German government would continue with its support for KAIPTC and similar courses, especially in contemporary times, when threats to regional security, originating from the Sahel region, pose great challenge to all.
He urged affected countries and the international community, to join forces in the fight against insecurity on the continent.
“The International Community and affected nations, must act fast and decisively to counter security challenges since the nature of armed conflict is changing, thus peace support has become a multi-dimensional challenge that includes expertise such as humanitarian and relief efforts, stabilization operations, security sector reforms, support to reconstruction and economic recovery, as well as support in the fields of governance and democracy.”
To the participants, the German Ambassador to Ghana advised them to maintain the network amongst themselves, as they have a variety of professional backgrounds and are from different countries.
“Networking for peace building and peacekeeping, is key to the success of ensuring peace and stability in Africa,” he added.
Adding his voice, Dr Vladimir Antwi Danso, Dean Of Academic Affairs Of the Ghana Armed Forces Command And Staff College, (GAFCSC) said the importance of peacekeeping in our part of the world cannot be over emphasized and in understanding peacekeeping and its support and all those things that they have to do in order to bring peace in the world, such programmes were inevitable.
He said the participants have enjoyed the programme in understanding what it meant by peacekeeping even though the military personnel amongst them have experienced it practically but had now got the experience in understanding the essence of peace keeping at the strategic, operational and tactical level.
The Peace Operations study is an exercise agreed upon by members of an association called the Conference of African Commandants of Staff Colleges, which started the exercises in 2007, stopped in 2010 and resumed in the year 2014.
The Facilitators for the CJAX were former Deputy Force Commander in Rwanda and former Deputy Head of the African Union (AU) UN hybrid Mission in Sudan – Major General (Maj Gen) Anyidoho (rtd), former Deputy Force Commander in Liberia – Maj Gen Carl Mode (rtd), Ambassador Joseph Felli, Gen Kusi (rtd) and experts from KAIPTC.
(lindatenyah@gmail.com)
By Linda Tenyah-Ayettey