Ghana’s Defense Minister, is complaining about how millions of dollars are being wasted on some peacekeeping operations that the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), is involved in West Africa.
Dominic Nitiwul, cited in particular, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) peacekeeping mission to The Gambia and suggested they it is a drain on national resources. While denying reports that the West African regional body was chasing the GAF for some missing US$800,000, Mr Nitiwul mentioned that just this year alone, the Ghana government has pumped a whopping 2.6 million dollars to fund the Gambian Mission.
It is almost seven years that The Gambia mission started, and Ghana, the Defense Minister disclosed, has spent in excess of US$10 million with just about US$3 million coming from ECOWAS, saying but for providing help to a brotherly nation, Ghana, would have stopped the mission.
The Herald’s information had been that the US$800,000, was given to some Ghanaian commanders on the mission to The Gambia, as feeding fees to the soldiers, but the money was kept by the commanders, brought to Ghana and handed over to a senior army officer upon their return. Both ECOWAS and The Gambia, want the money back since it was not given to the soldiers.
The issue is said to have first come up at one of the CDS briefing on Mondays, sometime in October with the senior officer in charge of the GAF’s funds questioned about the whereabouts of the money but he denied knowledge and pointed to a particular army officer as someone who could know about the issue.
Names making the rounds are that of Lt. Col Awuku, Lt. Col. Nimako, and Lt. Col Awuni. They are mentioned as those who took the feeding money from the ECOWAS team but did not pay the troops as the government Ghana had arranged for the feeding of the troops. The ECOWAS money is said to have landed in the pocket of a particular senior military officer.
Speaking on the matter on Asempa FM’s Ekosi Sen Current Affairs Programme, on Wednesday, Mr Nitiwul, denied that some monies had gone missing saying ECOWAS was rather chasing GAF for signatures of soldiers, who collected the daily feeding fee of US$ 25 without acknowledging receipt by way of signatures.
The Defense Minister who was responding to a publication in The Herald over the report of the missing case, insisted that he has letters from ECOWAS to show the GAF is only assisting ECOWAS get the signatures.
The Minister’s claims, however, suggest an ongoing audit of the books of the GAF by ECOWAS as looking for signatures in accounting, are serious matters.
But amidst his denial, The Herald is informed that the Chief of Defense Staff (CDS) Vice Admiral Seth Amoama, has been meeting some of the senior officers mentioned as those who collected the cash, to ascertain the veracity of the complaints from ECOWAS.
But, Mr Nitiwul, who doubles as Member of Parliament (MP) for Bimbimla, indicated that the regional bloc, could not be chasing the GAF for a refund of any money, because the government of Ghana, has been pre-financing the peacekeeping mission to The Gambia, for reimbursement.
He said, the money ECOWAS gives to the Ghanaian government for sending its soldiers to that country ,was less than US$600, 000 a year, and that Ghana has to find the 2 million dollars to top up for the operation.
He denied that money was handed over to particular military officers, insisting that the sums were rather paid into a bank account, adding Ghana has so far paid far in excess of 10 million dollars to fund the Gambia mission with ECOWAS paying less than 3 million dollars, since the mission started some six years ago.
He said that, although soldiers on UN missions get paid 35 dollars a day, Ghanaian soldiers in The Gambia mission receive 50 dollars a day, because they were initially billed as combat soldiers, and the government of Ghana, has kept the description and pays them as such although the fighting couldn’t come on.
The budget for this year alone works up to “2.6 million dollars but ECOWAS doesn’t give us one third”.
He insisted that it is not true that US$800, 000 was missing as reported by The Herald last week, and explained that the issue with ECOWAS has to do with obtaining the signature of every soldier to show that they were given some amount of money somewhere.
“That is the only thing that ECOWAS wanted and so they wrote to the ministry that some of the soldiers didn’t sign, so they should get them to sign. That’s all. But we paid, we have to always top up with 60% of the budget from government”.
“ECOWAS, does not need to give physical cash to anybody in this modern world”, he said but they pay into an account and from the account, the money is disbursed. This year, alone we have to look for over 2 million dollars to top up. We don’t owe them anything”.
The Defense Minister disclosed that, but for the sake of ECOWAS, the Ghanaian contingent would have withdrawn from the Gambian mission since ECOWAS is unable to fund the mission, adding Ghana is only in it because as a country, it has to be helpful to a brotherly nation.
Mr. Nitiwul, said there are documents at the Defense Ministry to show Ghana’s financial commitment to The Gambia mission which he is ready to make public.
Ghana sent a contingent of 205 soldiers to join the ECOWAS Mission in the Gambia (ECOMIG) to remove Yahya Jammeh from power and install elected President Adama Barrow in 2017. It was dubbed “Operation Restore Democracy”.
The names of the senior officers, who led that operation since it started in The Gambia, have included; Lt Col Awuni, Lt Col Awuku and others. They were said to have separately indicated that they handed over the cash to a senior officer upon their return to Ghana from The Gambia.
The ECOWAS officials were said to have stormed Ghana in the company of a delegation of diplomats from The Gambia.
This was after discovering there had been double payments to the Ghanaian contingent running into hundreds of thousands of dollars, although the US$251,000, was never handed to the soldiers, since they had already been paid by the Ghanaian government.
The Herald, is informed that, a series of meetings is ongoing amongst the top brass of Ghana’s military, The Gambian officials and ECOWAS delegation in an effort to retrieve the money and return it to its owners.
The CDS, Vice Admiral Seth Amoama, is said to be in the know of this development and helping to retrieve the amount from the senior army officer.
Also in the know is Chief of Army Staff, Major General Thomas Oppong Peprah.
“Operation Restore Democracy”, was an ECOWAS intervention by the regional force in The Gambia prompted by the refusal of former President Yahya Jammeh to quit power after losing election on December 1, 2016.
Ghana initially sent a contingent of 205 soldiers to join ECOMIG and later reduced the number to 50 officers and men, after President Adama Barrow established himself.
ECOWAS, all together had 7,000 troops on the ground by regional leaders, with two jet fighters and two warships.
Following the successful takeover by President Adama Barrow, regional troops got a new mandate which was the stabilization aspect. They were tasked with providing security for the presidency, cabinet members and key state installations, and restoring confidence between the Gambian security forces and the population and its leaders.
But because of the stabilization of the country, certain aspects of their mandate such as securing cabinet ministers and protecting government installations were left to the Gambian security that has assumed its responsibility to protect the country.
