Government to set up military base at Enzulebu to protect oil resources

A Forward Operating Base is to be constructed for the military at Enzulebu in the Ellembele District, Western Region for the protection of the nation’s oil resources, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has announced.

He said the government had signed a contract with a firm for work to begin on the project while the Ministry of Defence and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) had also ordered six patrol boats to augment the fleet of the Navy as part of moves to protect the nation’s maritime resources and oil fields.

President Akufo-Addo, who is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), announced this at the 2018 graduation ceremony for Regular Careers Course 58 and Short Service Commission/Special Duties Course 56 at the Ghana Military Academy in Accra yesterday.

In all, 138 cadet officers, including two allied officers from Guinea, passed out.

The overall best award also known as Sword of Honour went to Junior Under Officer S. A. Appiah.

A female Junior Under Officer, Ms Akosua Serwaa Appiah, took two awards: the Chief of Army Staff’s Award and the Military Cane.

President

Addressing the gathering, the President said the government planned to construct a new military training school to meet the requirement of the 21st century.

He explained that since its establishment in 1960, the school had not witnessed any major improvement in its infrastructure while the land on which the school was located had also been encroached upon.

Tough

President Akufo-Addo said if the newly inducted officers had the impression that their toughest time was the training they endured, they would be facing tougher challenges which would require the expertise they had acquired to deal with.

He urged the newly commissioned officers to be guided by the motto of the academy, which was, Service, Devotion and Sacrifice, to ensure it remained their guiding principle in life.

Recourse

The President said the government had provided 50 high occupancy buses for transporting personnel for training aside from the 40 pickups supplied in 2017 for Operation Calm Life.

He disclosed that the government had ordered 135 vehicles, including Pickups and Land Cruisers, which would arrive within the next two months to augment the vehicular fleet of the military.

The President announced that the second phase of the asphalting of roads at the various barracks would begin very soon.

He said the sector minister would cut the sod for the commencement of the Commander-in-Chief Sports Stadia across the country beginning with the one in Tamale, adding that already funding had been secured for the new Army headquarters which would begin before the end of the year.

Beatings

President Akufo-Addo urged the commissioned officers to guard against the temptation of using their uniforms to intimidate civilian counterparts who were their natural partners in the development of the nation.

He reminded the military that it was the taxes of the civilian population that provided the means for the sustenance of the military and urged them to execute the qualities of good politics instilled in them at the academy and lead exemplary lives.