Kofi Ampeah Woode
The Eastern Naval Command (ENC) of the Ghana Navy, has celebrated its end of year West Africa Soldiers Activities (WASSA) 2023, with a Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) Administration Inspection, a durbar and presentation of the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) Prize Essay Competition Awards to winners, which incidentally were all won by Naval personnel, at all categories.
The WASSA took place at the ENC Square, Naval Base, Tema, on Thursday 28 December, 2023, with the CNS – Rear Admiral (R/Adm) Issah Adam Yakubu, as the Guest of Honour, assisted by the Flag Officers Commanding (FOCs), ENC, and the Riverine Command – Commodore (Cdre) Maxwell Arhen and Cdre Solomon Asiedu-Larbi (who doubles as the Deputy Chief Staff Officer, Policy and Plans), respectively.
Speaking to Senior Officers, Officers, Ratings and Defence Civilian Staff, the CNS showed his fondness of durbars and WASSA, stating that they give him the opportunity to interact with hardworking personnel.
Admiral Yakubu further termed the Administration Inspection as giving him a first-hand impression of all the reports he reads about the Ghana Navy’s operational state of readiness, adherence to administrative procedures, and the state of ongoing projects in the Command.
He continued that, after taking stock of all the operational activities, he had come to the conclusion that he has been blessed with some of the most hardworking Officers, Ratings and Defence Civilian Staff in the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF).
Of the CDS’ Prize Essay Competition, he said ordinarily, awards would have been presented to deserving personnel in Accra, however, since the Navy took all the awards in the 2023 contest, he thought it would mean more to celebrate it at a Naval event, such as the ENC WASSA, and thus, sought the permission of the CDS, to present the awards thereat, ‘among kith and kin’.
Below are Winners of Awards for the 2023 CDS Price Essay Competition:
Officer Category – 1st Place was won by Lieutenant Commander (Lt Cdr) Albert Abugri (Prospects of the Defence Industry in Ghana in the Context of African Continental Free Trade Area); 2nd Place by Lt Ebenezer Okoe Arthur (Assessing the Impact of the Russia-Ukraine War and Its Impact on Developing Countries); 3rd Place by Lt Cdr Emilio Okyere-Dadzie (Retooling the Ghana Navy to Confront Contemporary Maritime Security Challenges).
Ratings Category – 1st Place was won by Leading Seaman (LS) Ackam Akwei Justice (Religious Intolerance in Ghana: How to Enhance National Cohesion); 2nd Place by LS Abdul-Latif Seidu (Religious Intolerance in Ghana: How to Enhance National Cohesion); and two persons tying at 3rd Place – LS Kissi Ebenezer and Able Seaman 1 Oba Roy Albert (Russian Ukraine War: Political Implications to Africa).
