The blessings of liberty and the order of good governance can be safeguarded when political, military, religious, traditional and civil society leaders first and foremost, see themselves as citizens of a democratic state and that they have a paramount duty of upholding the teachings of its constitution.
This was said by the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, as the Reviewing Officer, at the 2017 Graduation Parade of the Ghana Military Academy (GMA), Military Academy Training School (MATS) on Friday, 20th October, 2017 at the Teshie Camp, Accra.
The President also called for a new approach to military training as he urged the Military High Command to acknowledge that national armies the world over are being transformed in recent times, due to the nature of emerging conflicts from intra-state and cross-border conflicts employing both conventional and asymmetric warfare.
These, he added, have been compounded by armed robberies, land disputes, religious intolerance, ethnic clashes and political rivalries in a mix with contemporary threats of drug and human trafficking, proliferation of small arms and cyber crimes.
He further called on the new officer cadet graduands to remain conscious of their responsibilities to the nation, whose security they will be charged to protect.
He further charged them to discharge their duties professionally and diligently safeguard the territorial integrity of the nation and its citizens, but not to use their positions to antagonise the citizens, whose sacrifices have been used for their training.
Of the many awards and prizes presented, the Best Female went to female officer cadet C/SGT Mary Kwawukumey, Best Female Officer Cadet in Short Service Commission to C/Sgt Asante-Mante Y K, a medical doctor.
The Sword of Honour, awarded to the Best All Round Officer Cadet, was awarded to SUO Arthur-Barnes K, who also won the award for Tactics and additionally, the Chief Of Army Staff Award.
The GMA churned out one hundred and seven (107) officer cadets (24 females) with two allied cadets from Benin and two others from Guinea, for their respective national armed forces and of the overall, 78 were trained for the army, 11 for the navy and 18 for the air force.
The GMA was established on 1st April, 1960 after years of reliance on foreign military academies to commission potential officers for the GAF.
The Academy grew out of the Regular Officers Special Training Schools (ROSTS) which was established at MATS, Teshie, in 1953, providing 6 months preparatory training for selected cadets from the British West African colonies, prior to being sent to the UK for further officer training and commissioning.
Dignitaries present at the ceremony included the Ministers of Defence, Interior, Foreign Affairs and Greater Accra Region – Dominic Nitiwul, Ambrose Dery, Shirley Ayorkor Botwey and Ishmael Ashittey, respectively.
Also present were the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS), Lt Gen Obed Boamah Akwa, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr David Asante Apeatu, and other service heads.
Story: News Desk
