[ 2019-02-22 ]

Stay out of politics - President to Armed Forces
Accra, Feb. 22, GNA - President Nana Addo Dankwa
Akufo-Addo has reinforced the need for the Ghana
Armed Forces (GAF) to remain a neutral instrument
of the State.

He said it was in the interest of the entire
Ghanaian citizenry that the armed forces retained
its neutrality and professionalism as guaranteed
under the constitution of the country.

Addressing a durbar of officers, men and women of
the GAF on Friday at Burma Camp in Accra, the
President challenged personnel of the military to
rise above partisan considerations in the
discharge of their duties.

He reminded them that governments had term limits,
and tying the well-being of the Armed forces to
the fortunes of the ruling government of the day
was not good for the health of the nation.

"We must ensure that the Ghana Armed Forces is
left to focus on its core mandate and not be an
appendage of the ruling party.

"I envisage an armed force that goes about its
duty of protecting ordinary citizens confident
that there would be no interference by the powers
that be," he stated.

However, he suggested that military personnel who
wished to engage in politics should resign their
commission before pursuing that ambition, as
stated in the rules and regulations of the GAF and
the Constitution.

"If any of you would wish to engage in politics,
partisan politics, the rules are clear cut; you
have to leave the service honourably and carry on
with your ambition.

The President was emphatic that the cohesion and
esprit de Corps of the military ought to remain
intact for the benefit of the current and future
generations.

Ghanaians, he stated, wanted a professional armed
force that was disciplined, well motivated and
respectful of the rights and liberties of the
people, saying, "we should work together to
achieve this goal."

The President further asked the media to refrain
from attaching political motives to the
professional decisions of the military.

"You should be circumspect in your reportage on
the military and desist from attributing political
motives to matters that are purely professional,"
he said.

The President had earlier commissioned
newly-acquired mutli-purpose vehicles for the
GAF.

The vehicles included; 50 high occupancy busses,
40 hardbody trucks, and 50 Toyota pick-up trucks.
The vehicles form part of government’s
effort to retool the Armed forces to enable it
discharge its mandate efficiently and
effectively.

The President also commissioned the reconstructed
Command Mess of the GAF.

The President assured of his government’s
commitment to resource the GAF to make it better
able to perform its core functions of defending
the territorial integrity of Ghana and other
contemporary and emerging security challenges.

He said government would ensure that all the
manpower, training funding and infrastructural
deficits would be addressed in due course.

Source - GNA

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