Congratulations
We wish to congratulate His Excellency President Elect John Dramani Mahama on his success during the recent Presidential Elections.
The victory is a sign that the good people of Ghana have endorsed his resetting agenda. It is for this reason that the C-in-C should not disappoint the military fraternity but carry out a massive resetting of the Armed Forces to conform to the tenets and traditions of the Forces.
Why the need for Resetting?
In the first place, it is only proper and apt that if His Excellency wants to reset the entire country, all sectors of the country including the military are considered.
This is because the military has been allowed to be humiliated and ridiculed for the past eight years by President Akuffo Addo.
The President has by his actions and inactions rendered the rendered the military as a political tool which has lost all its glamour and image.
Recruitment has been so skewed to favour NPP Party faithful’s such that standards have been ignored this past eight years. This is why the military needs to be reset as soon as President Mahama assumes office.
Path for Brig Gen Thomas Oppong-Preparh
President Akuffo Addo, began his decimation of the military by creating a path for his son in law, then Brig Gen Thomas Oppong–Preprah, who was the Chief Staff Officer at the Army Headquarters to rise to the very top of the military.
The first move was to appoint him GOC of the Southern Command. After that he sought to get all the senior Generals ahead of him out of the country by creating new posts outside the country in South Africa, Germany, Brazil and Denmark and posting Brig Gyansenser, Brig N Kporku, Brig C Alhassan and Air Cmdre Dzamefe respectfully to these newly created appointments.
Subsequently something unthinkable happened in the Armed Forces. For the first time a general holding the post of the Chief of Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces was demoted and posted to take up junior appointment as Commandant at the Ghana Armed Forces and Staff College to enable Brig Gen Thomas Oppong-Preprah to take up the post as Chief of Staff over and above all his seniors, including Maj Gen W Omana-Agyekum.
This was such a humiliation to the officers concerned especially R/Admr Beck Baffour. As if that was not enough, Maj Gen Omane-Agyekum, had to be retired prematurely when by his age and rank he had more than sx years more to serve in the military.
All these were done for Brig Gen Thomas Oppong-Preprah, to rise to the very top of the military. As at that time, it was no secret the President had told Brig Thomas Oppong Preprah that he had handed out the military to him to manage as he wants.
Next Step
The next move was to appoint Maj Gen Thomas Oppong-Preprah in 2019, as the Chief of Army Staff, an appointment he held for four years, till he was appointed Chief of the Defence Staff in 2024.
Whilst as the head of the Army, Maj Gen Oppong Preprah, embarked on an expansion drive which was not wholistic but egoistic, pushing ahead his armoured corps and creating a Brigade.
It was not until there was lot of concern from the system that other corps namely signals, artillery and engineers, have been considered and raised to brigade status.
BREACH OF TRADITION
The military under President Akkufo Addo, also suffered severe humiliation. For the first time, a logistician was made the Chief of Staff and promoted to the rank of Maj Gen at the general headquarters, an appointment reserved for personnel of certain corps by virtue of their training and experience.
In the same vein an officer of the mechanical unit of the Armed Forces, was elevated for the first time to the rank of Brigadier and later as Maj Gen something unheard off in the military since its creation.
To add insult into injury, the president decided to have as his Aide de camp an officer of the rank of Brigadier General, instead of a Colonel as has been the convention.
This meant that a general who is to be commanding as many as over 3000 troops ended up carrying the dairy of the President.
It was therefore no wonder that the current Aide de Camp could not meet the physical pressure and collapsed during the last SONA. Under this president, the military were deployed to guard homes of politically exposed personnel, including the Electoral Commission Staff. Soldiers have become drivers to civilians and reduced to servants.
Final Straw
The President did not end there. His engagements with the military, suggested that he did not have any regard for the military.
For instance, he was always in a rush to leave military functions when he attended, especially during graduation ceremonies at the Ghana Military Academy.
What hurts the military fraternity so much, is the fact that for eight years, President Akufo-Addo, never held a durbar with personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces, as was done by Presidents Rawlings, Kuffour, Mills and Mahama.
He basically, did not have any regard for the military. He directly interfered in very tactical issues like postings of officers below the rank of colonel.
A case in question is how he furiously directed that, then Colonel Badu Acheampong, who had been posted from the post of director manpower for fraud, had the postings reversed.
The last punch, however, is the current promotions of the Chief of the Defence Staff and Service Chief/Chief of Staff to the ranks of General, Lt Generals.
This is the highest point of ridicule to all the past generals, who served the country with their utmost strength and gave it all.
Deep throats from within the military, says that troops are very worried and would be disappointed if President Mahama allows these promotions to hold.
It is romoured that, there was no Armed Forces Council Meeting that proposed these promotions and that the Council of State, might not have been consulted. In any case the size of the Ghana Armed Forces, does not merit the ranks so awarded to the heads.
Recommendations
The general feeling within the military is that, they expect a massive shakeup in the form of a resetting plan to restore the military to its glory.
Troops will be very disappointed if this is not done. The caveat is that, the resetting cannot be done with people who have been part of this old system even if it is for one month.
How would those who created this bad system, remain at the top and allow it to be dismantled? This means that any idea of keeping any of the current heads in place, would be a non-starter for the reset agenda.
It is hoped that His Excellency, President JD Mahama, will do the needful to conform with his resetting promise for which reason the personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces in all the garrisons voted massively for him during the last election.
The history of what happened during July 2016, when a particular general was appointed as Chief of the Army Staff, should not be forgotten so soon.
The troops are watching your Excellency. Once again, congratulations your Excellency. May God give you the strength and wisdom to navigate this path!!!
