President Akufo-Addo has presented one hundred and seventy-five vehicles to the Ghana Armed Forces.
At a ceremony at Gondar Barracks, in Burma Camp, Headquarters of the Armed Forces, President Akufo-Addo presented 70 Kamaz Utility Troop Carrying Vehicles; 20 BTR-70 Armoured Personnel Carriers; 20 Husky Armoured Vehicles; and 65 Assorted Toyota Vehicles.
The President also presented a number of communication equipment to the Armed Forces. This is the third time in three years that he has presented vehicles to the Armed Forces, the first being on Thursday, 5th December 2019, and the second being Wednesday, 31st March 2021.
Addressing the gathering, President Akufo-Addo noted that the vehicles and equipment he presented “will go a long way to help GAF contain the security threat from violent extremist and terrorist groups along our northern borders, other internal security challenges as well as support external peacekeeping operations”.
The President commended the Armed Forces for their commitment to the on-going Operations especially ‘Conquered Fist, Motherland, Gonggong and Halt II’, which are intended to create a secure, peaceful atmosphere at the northwestern, northern and northeastern borders of the country, to contain secessionist activities, and to deal with the galamsey menace respectively.
“I urge you to continue to collaborate with the Ministries of National Security, Interior, Foreign Affairs and the Ghana Revenue Authority, as well as all other stakeholder agencies, to ensure that we maintain a robust posture that will deter potential aggressors from derailing the political and socio-economic gains achieved so far.”
President Akufo-Addo
Fighting terrorism in Ghana
President Akufo-Addo emphasized that there’s no doubt that the success of GAF in providing the needed all-round security in the country has been made possible through its vigilance and sacrifices, notwithstanding the scarce resources that it has to work with. To this end, he expressed his gratitude to Commander-in-Chief.
In order to help address the threat from Ghana’s northern border, he explained that Government released funds in 2020 to start re-tooling, construction and upgrading of fifteen Forward Operating Bases and new units, including the 10 and the 11 Mechanised Battalions, and 154 and 155 Armoured Regiments and supporting logistics units.
All these efforts of re-tooling and providing the necessary accommodation units, he explained, “are intended to enhance the efficiency of the Ghana Armed Forces”.
Prior to this, Deputy Minister of Defence, Kofi Amankwa-Manu, assured Ghanaians that the country is protected against any possible terrorist attack. Nonetheless, he called on the people not to be complacent and rather be on alert for suspicious persons.
The Member of Parliament for Atwima Kwanwoma stated that the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) is working hard to protect all the entry points into the country to block these persons from entering to destabilize the peace.
He expressed confidence in the Ghana Armed Forces, that they will defend this country and borders. To this end, he noted that Ghanaians are protected but they cannot take security for granted.
In September last year, President Akufo Addo equally cautioned the all-inclusive community in the sub-region of the growing threat of terrorist activities in West Africa. At the 77th UN General Assembly meeting, Nana Addo noted democracy has been stirred by terrorist activities. Neighbors bordering Ghana have suffered terrorist attacks and have had to battle insurgents in the last decade.
In his speech, he stated that terrorist pressure has provided a pretext for the unhappy reappearance of military rule in three of the 15 member ECOWAS Community. As a result, Africa is determined to reverse the situation so that the ECOWAS space remains a democratic one
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