Kofi Ampeah Woode
The Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Technical Training School (EMETTS) has formally rounded off its Basic Class III Course 2-2023 – a foundation course for one hundred and seventy-one (171) personnel of the Unit – which was organized to give potential tradesmen a solid foundation in various trades, for the repair and maintenance of military equipment.
The closing ceremony/End-of-Year Get-Together for EMETTS was held at its Centre of Technical Excellence, on Monday, 18 December, 2023, with Deputy Commandant, Ghana Armed Forces’ (GAF) Training and Doctrines Command (TRADOC) – Brigadier General (Brig Gen) Lawrence Gbetanu, as the Guest of Honour.
Brig Gen Gbetanu said EMETTS, which is one of the schools under TRADOC, was set up to provide the requisite training for artisans within GAF, and that efforts have been made over the years to improve the facilities and course content of the school, in order to meet the repair demands of modern equipment technology.
He continued to say that the German Armed Forces Technical Advisory Group (GAFTAG), over the years has made huge investments towards infrastructural development and retooling of EMETTS, of recent being a state-of-the-art Mechatronics Training Centre, which was built and equipped by GAFTAG, and handed over to the school.
He also said that the Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI), has presented some equipment and training support, with plans being far advanced for the delivery of some heavy equipment in 2024, to support training at the school.
He asserted that the affiliation of EMETTS to reputable academic institutions such as the Accra Technical University (ATU) for external certification for EMETTS trainees continues to pay off, as they are being awarded diploma and advanced diploma certificates from ATU, and affirmed that EMETTS remains an approved examination center for the Ghana Education Service and City and Guilds of London examinations.
General Gbetanu assured that the Ghana Armed Forces will work tirelessly together with its partners, to cater for the infrastructural deficit and retooling of the school, especially the workshops and library complex, hence urging the school to continue to attract wards and dependents of GAF’s service personnel.
In his opening remarks at the ceremony, the Commanding Officer (CO), EMETTS – Lieutenant Colonel (Lt Col) Emmanuel Ajedu Odoom gave the statistics of the six months course participants as follows; the Basic Class III Course 2-2023 assembled on 14 July 2023, with a course capacity of 172, with participants drawn from the 3 Services of GAF:
The students comprised of 136 Soldiers from the Army (7 females), 14 Ratings from the Ghana Navy and 20 from the Air force (2 females).
The distribution of students for the courses in the various trade lots is as follows: Automobile Mechanics – 33, Automobile Electricians – 6, Driver Recovery Mechanics – 26, Office Machine Technicians – 7, Electro-medical Technicians – 13, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Tech – 48, Welding & Fabrication – 8, Auto-body finish and Spraying/Carpenter Painter – 5, Weapon Fitting Artificers – 10, Clerk and Stores Administrators – 12, and Machinist – 3.
Apart from the military certificate, 92 students participated in the 4 affiliate programmes of ATU, and would be awarded certificates in Automobile Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Refrigeration and Air- conditioning, Welding and Fabrication, upon completion of their 3-month industrial attachment, which would take place from January to March, 2024, after which they would graduate from the University.
The Welding & Fabrication and Carpenter Painter students on the course, manufactured an industrial gas cooking stove, and an improved alert status at the school’s entrance, respectively, as part of their practical work.
After participating in the Mechatronics training at the Centre, Staff Sergeant Boazor Colabel won the 2023 West African Vehicle Academy (WAVA) annual Diagnostics Competition – a trophy the school has won for the second time in a row – on Tuesday 5 December, 2023.
The CO said GAFTAG is currently putting up a 160-bed student accommodation block, which when completed in April 2024, would ameliorate the accommodation challenge of the school, stating however that, to meet the needs of the expansion drive of GAF, EMETTS would need more classrooms, workshop space with more tools and equipment, a library, a Research Centre and an auditorium for central lectures and other activities.
Dignitaries present included Deputy Chief Staff Officer, Logistics, Army Headquarters – Brig Gen Kenneth Kweku Kwaah Kumi; Director, Electrical and Mechanical Engineers – Colonel Nditsi; Director General, CTVET – Dr Fred Kyei Asamoah; GAFTAG Acting Head of Mission – Lt Andrea Maas; Head of Mechanical Engineering Department, ATU – Dr Moro Adams; Regimental Sergeant Majors, Instructors, Students.
