Kofi Ampeah Woode
A high-powered delegation from the Ghana Army Headquarters has paid a 5-day staff visit to the Ghanaian Contingent serving with the ECOWAS Stabilisation Support Mission in Guinea-Bissau (ESSMGB GHANCOY 1), to assess the operational readiness, administrative and logistics state of the unit to effectively deliver its mission in line with the Ghana Armed Force (GAF) policy on contingents deployed on international peace operations.
The delegation, made up of the Deputy Chief Staff Officer (DCSO), Plans and Policy – Brigadier General (Brig Gen) CK Lithur, Chief G3, Peace Support Operations – Colonel (Col) J Danso-Ankrah and Staff Officer, Operational Intelligence – Lieutenant Colonel (Lt Col) E Ametame, visited the unit from Thursday 30 March to 3 April 2023.
Activities undertaken during the visit included briefing, tour of the camp and duty points around Guinea-Bissau’s Presidential Palace, courtesy calls on the Head of the Presidential Security Corps– Col Tcherninho Bari and Brig Gen Dinis Ncanha, coordinator of military operations at the presidency. The delegation also called on the EESMGB Force Commander – Brig Gen AM Grema and the UN Resident coordinator to Guinea-Bissau, Mr Anthony Ohemeng-Boamah.
In his welcome remarks, the Combat Team Commander – Lt Col David k Korsah, briefed the delegation on the current security and political situation in Bissau, operational, logistics and administrative issues of the Combat Team.
He further expressed appreciation to the Military High Command (MHC) and the delegation for the visit, and highlighted some local community-engagement activities done so far, minor and major engineering works in the camp, and pledged to keep the flag of Ghana flying high.
The leader of the delegation, Brig Gen Lithur, who stated that the Government of Ghana and MHC, are very impressed with the GHANCOY’s good works in Guinea-Bissau, however urged troops to remain professional and complete the tour on a high note. The delegation also extoled the Ghanaian Contingent for their discipline and glaring efforts in supporting the stability of Guinea-Bissau.
The delegation provided an update on happenings back home in Ghana and clarified some policies being undertaken by the MHC, as they interacted with troops, assuring them that all concerns raised would be addressed to improve the morale and welfare of troops in the field. The delegation then departed Guinea-Bissau on 3 April 2023 for Ghana.
