Retired army commander urges GAF personnel to ensure peace
Major General Clayton Yaache (Rtd), Former Army Commander, on Thursday urged personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) to ensure peace and order in society with the emerging challenges ahead.
He said: “The ramifications of the country’s oil find and the imminent Presidential and Parliamentary Elections, will pose new security challenges, that would require serious attention by the Armed Forces High Command.”
Maj. Gen. Yaache made the call when addressing the 50th Anniversary Parade of Reformation of Fifth Infantry Battalion in Accra.
On parade were eight officers and 104 men under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Kennel Lawrence Koku Gbetanu, Commanding Officer of the Battalion.
Maj. Gen. Yaache said as an integral part of the Armed Forces, the battalion had to be prepared physically, psychologically and logistically to face up to any security challenges, both on the international and national scenes.
“Every effort must be directed towards ensuring that peace, security and tranquility of the country are preserved at all times,” he said.
Maj. Gen. Yaache commended the battalion for playing an “effective watch-dog role” over Greater Accra Region and said “The fact that the Region is relatively calm and secure is a credit to your sense of dedication, commitment and sacrifice. I commend personnel of the battalion who are continually deployed on various operations for their sense of professionalism and devotion to duty”.
He said while GAF faced challenges “It is gratifying to observe that these challenges are being addressed by the Ministry of Defence and the Military High Command”.
Maj. Gen. Yaache said when those challenges were addressed “This proud battalion would be on its way to greater hope and prosperity. Future generations could then look back and say that this occasion, the Golden Jubilee, was worthy of celebration”.
Present at the event were Maj. Gen. Joseph Narh Adinkrah, Chief of Army Staff and Brig. Gen. Martin Ahiaglo, General Officer Commanding Southern Command.
Awards were presented to past Commanding Officers and Regimental Sergeant Majors of the Battalion, while an Information Communication Technology Centre for the Ghana Armed Forces was inaugurated by Maj. Gen Yaache to commemorate the celebration.
In 1941, the battalion was formed as part of the five Gold Coast Regiment, under the five West Africa Brigade Group.
A year later, it came under the command of the 81 West Africa Division, and fought in Burma from July 1943 till February 1944, returning to the then Gold Coast between September and October, 1945.
After being disbanded alongside other battalions in 1946, it was fully established again in 1964 under the command of Lt Col Bawah, first Ghanaian Commanding Officer, who took over on July 25, 1961.
Source: GNA