Kofi Ampeah Woode
The leader of the Medal Day delegation, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Major General Bismarck K Onwona has paid a weeklong working visit to United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) Ghana Battalion (GHANBATT) Area of Operational Responsibility from 3 May to11 May 2024.
During the visit, the COAS visited the Force Commander, Lt Gen Mohan Subramanian and other mission leadership and met the Ghanaian Community all in Juba before heading to GHANBATT Headquarters in Bentiu on Monday 6 May 2024.
On arrival at the GHANBATT Headquarters, the COAS and his entourage were briefed by the Commanding Officer, Lt Col Dominic Ampomah and his staff. The COAS as part of his itinerary visited the GHANBATT Company Operating Base (COB) in Leer and the GHANBATT Temporary Operating Base (TOB) in Koch on Wednesday 8 May 2024. During his visit to these positions, he was briefed by the various commanders, given a conducted tour of the camps and held durbars with troops.
The COAS indicated that the aim of his durbars was to officially introduce himself to troops of GHANBATT 11 having taken over as the Chief of the Army Staff in February this year. The COAS updated the troops on GAF’s expansion drive, recent developmental projects within the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) and security issues in Ghana.
He also used the opportunity to spell out vision which is “To maintain a cohesive, motivated and a well-rounded Army which is capable of undertaking its mission of national defense as part of the Ghana Armed Forces”.
The COAS commended troops of GHANBATT 11 for their high level of professionalism, resilience and dedication to work over the period which have gained the admiration of the UNMISS leadership. He assured troops that efforts would be made to alleviate the operational and logistics challenges affecting the GHANBATT in order to enable them to effectively and smoothly discharge their duties.
He added that some new Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) have been purchased for the mission and would soon be sent to the mission area for the smooth conduct of operations.
Troops had the opportunity to seek clarifications on a number of issues affecting them either in the mission area or back in Ghana. Maj Gen Onwona within the period was able to clear all doubts of troops and reassured them of his commitment to improve on troops’ welfare issues.
The COAS expressed appreciation on behalf of the Delegation to the Commanding Officer Lt Col Dominic Ampomah and his troops for the warm and elaborate reception throughout their visit.
The delegation included Chief Staff Officer Ghana Airforce Air Cdr Eric Yirenkyi, Director Budget Capt (GN) Anthony Sarfo, Sergeant Major of the Army, Master Warrant Officer (MWO) Ansah Yeboah.
Also present included the UNMISS Sector West Commander who doubles as the Contingent Commander (CONTICO) Brig Gen Dominic Gbedawo, the Defence Attache (DA) Ethiopia Brig Gen Richard Woanya,
In honour of the COAS and the Medal Delegation, a send-off cocktail party was organized at the GHANBATT Officers’ Mess on Wednesday 8 May 2024. Present at the event were the Represenative of the Head of Field Office, the Commanding Officer UNMISS GHANBATT 11, the Section Heads of the UNMISS Bentiu Field Office, Commanding Officers of the Mongolia Battalion, Pakistani Military Engineer Task Force (Pak METF) and the Ghana Formed Police Unit as well as other Staff Officers of Sector Unity Headquarters.
The Commanding Officer, Lt Col D Ampomah presented some souvenirs to the COAS and the other members of Medal Day delegation to express his gratitude to the COAS for making time off his busy schedule to visit UNMISS GHANBATT 11.
Credit: UNMISS GH11 PI CELL
