Kofi Ampeah Woode
On the pursuit of having adequate and appropriate working spaces for the growing number of personnel being posted to the Unit, the Forces Pay Regiment (FPR) of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) has re-constructed, furnished and commissioned its former dilapidated wooden structure which accommodated the Unit barber and tailors, into an office block for Remittances.
The office building for the Remittances Group of the Unit, located at the FPR Headquarters, Burma Camp, Accra, which will accommodate over forty (40) staff, and constructed with the sponsorship of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), MOBUS PROPERTIES LTD – Mr Kojo Ansah, was inaugurated on Friday 21 March 2025.
The Commanding Officer (CO), FPR – Colonel (Col) Miki Adusei Nkrumah christened the Remittances Block the “ABABIO SEREBOUR BLOCK”, after Lieutenant Colonel (Lt Col) Ababio Serebour – former CO, FPR, who formed the Remittances Group in 2006, where the present CO became the first Officer to be posted as the Group Leader.
Lt Col Ababio Serebour (Rtd) was the Guest of Honour at the commissioning of the project, with the Special Guest being Sir Sam Esson Jonah – Chairman, Jonah Capital.
Narrating the antecedents of the Remittances Group, Col MA Nkrumah said, the only major task of the Regiment was to pay salaries to personnel of GAF, however, in the process of time, financial institutions saw the need to partner the Unit to provide seamless financial services to military personnel.
Hence in 2006, through the ingenuity and vision of Lt Col Ababio Serebour as the CO, Forces Pay Office – now Forces Pay Regiment – the Unit partnered with some financial institutions to birth the Remittance Group.
Col Nkrumah, who upon assumption of office, has expressed a burden of urgency to provide appropriate working conditions for personnel of the Regiment, used the occasion to appeal to various financial institutions, to support the cause of providing office blocks for the Regiment.
Lt Col A Serebour stated that the Remittance Group is the hub that interfaces the relationship between the FPR and the corporate world, thus, it is in order that efforts have been made to expand office space to help accommodate the increasing number of personnel, as well as to improve on work processes.
He further stated that the provision of the facility, serving as a constant reminder to Unit personnel, of the common goal to always achieve excellence and deliver on the mandate, will go a long way to deepen the existing relationship between the Regiment and its corporate partners, and further foster cooperation.
Speaking to why the project matters, Mr Kojo Ansah said his organization could not refuse Col Nkrumah’s call for help because, the Unit’s output contributes significantly in safeguarding the entire country, and the environment for business.
The CEO of MOBUS, whose company has developed award-winning residential, commercial and industrial spaces across West Africa (such as Capella Place and Phoenix Villas), further said that the building symbolizes not only a corporate social responsibility gesture, but also a testament to partnership.
He said reconstructing the building required meticulous planning, just like MOBUS’ mixed-use developments, hence they upgraded the infrastructure and optimized layouts for efficiency, and incorporated sustainable practices, to ensure that the building serves for decades.
“By enhancing your environment, we aim to amplify your impact, ensuring that every transaction and effort here, bolsters Ghana’s security”, Mr Ansah said.
Present at the commissioning included the Defence Financial Comptroller, GAF – Brigadier General Salifu Osumanu; Representative of the General Officer Commanding, Support Services Command – Col Clement Kojo Dingane; Director Engineering Services – Col Jonas Wiafe; Deputy CO, FPR – Lt Col Michael Benefo; Senior Officers; Members of the Commission Finance Officers Association Officers, Soldiers and Defence Civilian Staff.
By Kofi Ampeah-Woode
