Joseph Ashietey Hammond
A former Private soldier of the Royal West African Frontier Force’s (RWAFF) Gold Coast Regiment, yesterday, began a daily two mile walk to raise £500,000 for frontline medical workers in the Covid-19 war and vulnerable African veterans.
Joseph Ashietey Hammond, who saw action in Burma, now Myanmar, began the walk from his residence near the Photo Club in Osu, Accra, yesterday at 6am and ended up at the starting point. He is expected to cover a total of 14 miles.
Speaking earlier on a BBC interview, he said, he was strong to undertake the task because as he put it “I am as strong as a fiddle.”
The GUBA Foundation, which put the programme together, will purchase PPEs for frontline workers and vulnerable African veterans, WWII.
The Veterans Administration Ghana (VAG) provided a vehicle which followed the veteran as he walked along the Ring Road from Danquah Circle to Circe and back. According to the VAG PRO, Bright Segbefia, the vehicle serves as an ambulance in case there is an emergency during the walk.
The veteran’s walk, DAILY GUIDE learnt, was being coordinated by Derrick Cobbinah, a retired British Army soldier of Ghanaian parentage.
The Royal Ex-Services League of the Commonwealth also played a critical role in the walk through the provision of the necessary logistics.
Veteran, Joseph Ashietey Hammond, represented African veterans a few years ago in Britain for a Global Awards programme arranged for veterans, during which he met the British Prime Minister and other dignitaries. He received recognition from Britain presentation of which was done at the VAG headquarters a few years ago.
In an interview with the veteran shortly after receiving his recognition at the VAG headquarters, he recalled the day he went to be enlisted.
“I was 16 then and the year was 1943, when I turned up for recruitment into the Gold Coast Regiment of the Royal West African Frontier Force (RWAFF). The location was at a place then called Trade Reception Centre or Depot, where the Accountant General’s Department is situated today. There were not many buildings as there are today. It was later called the Treasury before its current Accountant General name today.
“The recruiting officers, a Captain and a Lieutenant it would appear, were a bit hesitant about my very youthful age and posed a question as to whether I could kill my mother when ordered to do so, to which I said I could if the order originated from the state. They were pleased with the response and said “good”. I was immediately recruited to commence training,” he said.
He recalled the Osu Crossroads shooting of which he was a part of those who went to present a petition to the Governor in 1948.
Recently in Britain, a veteran, Captain Tom Moore, walked 100 laps at the back of his garden to raise funds for frontline medical workers under the NHIS in the country. The exercise commemorated with his centenary. The walks realized £32 million, something which surprised him.
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By A.R. Gomda