Kofi Ampeah Woode
Everything has a price, although the end user may have it without a charge, its cost may have been paid someway somehow by someone somewhere; so is peace in Ghana, and the West Africa sub-region.
Persons from nations or regions that have experienced any form of strife of war, are always handy with admonishment to others who display signs of trouble, not to foment one, after experiencing the cost of war and its long time effects on nations, victims, institutions, generations, not to mention post trauma stress disorder that peacekeepers carry with them, long after the conflict.
Experts talk of how against state economies, conflicts create lack of human resource to fill critical positions for development (the banishing, killing and maiming men), and delivers wealth of nations into the hands of expatriates who fill such positions that should have been held by indigenes.
A nonchalant journalist who was participant of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) two-week Hostile Environment Awareness Training (HEAT), which had a session that took participants to Ghana Army’s Battle Training Camp, Bundase, was terribly shaken for a long period, after experiencing a simulated hijack attack. How would such a person fare under a real one?
Another journalist posited on national radio, that Ghana does not need an armed force, since it is not at war, and has not experienced one since independence. The crises of thought!
Trained soldiers have varied tales of war experiences to share, which are terrible to the ears that hear them. One deceased peacekeeper told of how in the Democratic Republic of Congo, on a terrain of hills and valleys, in critical times, peacekeeping troops had to resort to embarking on patrol duties, with a Troops Carrying Vehicle (TCV), until help arrived.
One fact that sticks out to every particular observer or interested person in peaceful statal atmosphere is that peace does not just happen; peace is a product, and that products are produced by producers. Peace, and the maintenance thereof, is not human’s default setting or some natural state.
Peace as a product, is a concept many developed countries that have developed quite highly, have invested heavily in, understanding that without that commodity, almost every other thing does not happen.
One time, granted audience to address a large religious gathering to solicit collaboration with a security institution, I asked the leader why his organization does not have branches in particular strife-torn countries that I cited, and he simply answered that, it is so because there is not peace in such places.
Cursory observers have many times wondered why some states in West Africa have not suffered attacks of Violent Extremism (VE) and Terrorist Action Groups (TAG) in proportions that others have, the notorious spread from the Sahel Region of West Africa that threatens littoral states.
Multiple factors/reasons have been adduced by security sector practitioners to why Ghana in particular has enjoyed that tranquil, at least for the time being, from such terror striking attacks, however, there must be something that the national security architecture has been doing right, for the status quo.
The 4th Republic Constitution of Ghana assigns the responsibility of keeping the peace and tranquil of Ghana to its Armed Forces, and other aspects to other sister security services.
Since first deployment in 1960 to the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in the Republic of Congo, Ghana, through the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) has consistently been a beacon of peace and stability on the world stage, and has progressed to become the sixth-largest troop contributing country to the United Nations (UN) peace support operations (PSO), with some 2,600 personnel deployed in some of the most challenging conflict zones.
Ghana’s Ministry of Defence (MoD), through the Military, established the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), with the purpose of consolidating, building upon, and sharing Ghana’s five decades of experience and competence in peace operations, as part of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) peace initiatives, both within the region and the rest of Africa.
In recognition of the need for training military, police and civilian men and women to meet the changing demands of multidimensional peace operations, KAIPTC was created, and has progressed from delivering training courses in three thematic areas: Peace Support Operations, Conflict Management and Peace and Security Studies to running Masters and PhD versions of these thematic areas.
The Masters and PhD programmes equips students with effective tools for analytical thinking, good judgment, leadership and other critical managerial skills in the Peace and Security.
The KAIPTC – internationally-recognized institution – can also boast of a world-class Research Department that undertakes research in the thematic areas in Peace and Security, for national, sub-regional, continental and global situations.
KAIPTC plays an important operational part in the security architecture of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), as the former is one of three Training Centres of Excellency (TCE) designated by the sub-regional body, since 2007, and is mandated to respond to the training needs of the ECOWAS Standby Force (ESF).
KAIPTC, along with other training institutions, think-tanks, and civil society groups, play a vital role in building the capacities of uniformed and civilian personnel engaged in conflict prevention, and multidimensional peace operations.
The establishment of the ECOWAS Standby Force (ESF) marked a significant milestone in efforts to address the peace and security challenges faced by West Africa, and in recent years, substantial progress has been made towards fully operationalizing the ESF, as part of the broader African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA), and the African Standby Force (ASF).
Deployments of the ESF in member states, such as Mali, as well as the ongoing ECOWAS missions in Guinea Bissau (ECOMIB) and the Gambia (ECOMIG), have provided valuable lessons and highlighted the need to enhance the capacity of civilian, police, and military personnel involved in Peace Support Operations (PSOs) in the Region.
KAIPTC provides key training needs of each component of the ECOWAS Standby Force to ensure the successful execution of PSOs.
The Directorate of Peacekeeping and Regional Security (DPKRS) of the ECOWAS Commission, in collaboration with the KAIPTC and facilitated by the EPSAO Project, has developed the ECOWAS Staff Officers Handbook and the ECOWAS Staff Officers Course, to train ECOWAS Staff Officers and personnel in ECOWAS Peace Support Operations (PSOs).
The course enhances participants’ understanding of the broader framework within which ECOWAS personnel operate, and equips them with the necessary operational procedures, specific to roles, and contributes to the organization, standardization, and documentation of operating procedures at both ECOWAS Headquarters, and ESF Mission Headquarters.
In 2023, KAIPTC expanded and elevated the former Women Peace and Security Institute (WPSI) into a Department, and added the critical component of Youth to its operations, now becoming WYPSI. The new Department is therefore called Women, Youth Peace and Security Institute.
As a way of enhancing the development, growth and efficiency of what used to be the Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research (FAAR), the Faculty has been split into Applied Research Department and a Faculty of Academic Affairs to be known and called “The Kofi Annan School of Peace and Security Studies (KASPSS)”.
The school is autonomous and forms part of the new National Defence University (NDU) that has been established by the Military High Command. It is responsible for post-Graduate and undergraduate academic programmes, and incorporates a Language Department for the study of Languages at the KAIPTC.
On the 20th year anniversary celebration, KAIPTC is credited with training over 25,207 and counting, providing courses civilians, police and military personnel. Much as this institution has international partners, and from the host government, it is appropriate that all stakeholders of peace in Ghana in particular and the sub-regional as a whole, support the Centre variously.
Editorial
