There are disturbing reports from the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) that the integrity it was known for compared to other security establishments, has been eroded with senior officers being let off the hook for one wrongdoing or the other.
The Herald is informed that, discipline is broken down with wrongdoers within both the officer corps, as well as the Non Commissioned officers otherwise known as “Other Ranks” are not punished, hence things are getting out of hand
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In the worst case scenario, a lot of these cases are not investigated, while those probed are either swept under the carpet with the officers remaining at post and even promoted.
Currently in the bosom of the GAF, The Herald learnt, is a report of an investigation conducted into the petition before the Military High Command, calling for an investigation into certain conducts of one of its officers.
The officer, until recently a Brigadier General, was said to be extorting money from soldiers on peacekeeping missions, for selling Peacekeeping Mission slot to other officers.
He is said to have been selling United Nations Peacekeeping slots to soldiers who were not due for the missions since 2019, and in the process denied soldiers who were due to embark on these missions to Sudan, The Gambia, Mali and Lebanon.
This paper is informed that, as much as US$8000, were extorted from the soldiers when they returned from the peace mission.
The Herald is informed that the GAF’s Defense Intelligence carried out a probe into the conduct of the officer and submitted its report to the military hierarchy, however, nothing was done to him, despite the damning content of the report.
He was promoted two weeks ago, promoted during the latest GAF promotions.
The officer, said to have been selling United Nations Peacekeeping slots to soldiers who were not due for the missions since 2019, and in the process denied soldiers who were due to embark on these missions to Sudan, The Gambia, Mali and Lebanon.
The soldiers, The Herald, learnt got paid US$12,700, but the senior officer extorted his US$8000, leaving them with a paltry US$4,000.
Many of the soldiers, The Herald was informed, were not due for Peacekeeping, but were selected and sneaked on the missions by the said senior officer at the cost of US$8000, vaguely labelled as “GOC Admin”.
His conduct has led to some soldiers embarking on these missions several times when others had not been on the missions.
Per Ghana Armed Forces arrangements, soldiers are supposed to be on these missions for a year at US$35 per day. They are to spend two years in Ghana upon return before their next trip; however, The Herald learnt that the officer is able to sneak them onto another trip at US$8000.
Strangely, the petition was said to have been treated with contempt by the military high command and the senior officer has been promoted and given sensitive responsibility.
The development, has left many of the soldiers very livid with lots of murmuring amongst the soldiers and the officer corps as to the extent of the degeneration in the GAF.
