Kofi Ampeah Woode
Base Supply Depot (BSD), one of the nerves of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), has had its Commanding Officer (CO) – Colonel (Col) William Kofi Karikari handover the helm of affairs to Lieutenant Colonel (Lt Col) Godwin Avorke, after the former had golden-touched the Unit in a relatively short stint of duty.
A brief indoor Handing/Taking Over ceremony, supervised by the Commander, Support Services Brigade Group (SP SVC BDE GP) – Brigadier General (Brig Gen) Selassie Gagakuma, was held at BSD, Burma Camp, Accra, on Friday September 1, 2023.
Col Karikari, who is now designated for GAF’s Defence Industries Department (DID), took over the reins of BSD on Wednesday 23 February 2022, and is noted to have dramatically boosted morale of his troops by providing his charges with the needed ambience for the professional discharge of their duties.
A sum of his output for his 18-month leadership is seen in the list provided below:
1) The completion of the eastern fence wall of the Unit; 2) Change of the manual main gate to an automated one to relieve Soldiers of the burden of dragging the gate; 3) A major facelift of the Guard Point; 4) Repairs of the broken roofs of the Bulk Oil, Daily Issue Stores (DIS) and Miscellaneous Issue Stores (MIS).
Others are; 5) Construction of offices inside the various stores, for troops to work in an enabling environment; 6) Major renovation works at the DIS; 7) Rehabilitation of the Unit Canteen and provision of television and musical entertainment for patrons; 8) Construction of an ultra-modern 8-cubicle male and female ablution unit.
Additionally, there are, 9) Construction of a decent shed for fuel trucks which hitherto were at the mercy of the weather; 10) Provision of a tailoring shop; 11) Expansion of the cold storage by adding a reefer container Indoor and Outdoor Units for the Cold Room (the Indoor and Outdoor units of the Butchery Cold room have been replaced to enhance storage of protein items).
There are also; 12) Renovation and extension of the yam store; 13) Concrete Works at the Unit’s POL Point – it used to be flooded anytime it rained; 14) Renovation of the Oil Store and the concrete recasting of floors, and repainting; 15) Repair of Unit Duty Vehicle (which was involved in an accident) – hitherto, Soldiers used their own vehicles for routine unit errands.
Moreover, 16) Leaking Roofs of the POL, MISS & DIS have been fixed; 17) Lighting systems in the storerooms have been improved; 18) BSD’s Water Supply System has been reconnected after years of disconnection; 19) Installation of a new water reservoir tank with water pump; 20) Extension of water supply to the Butchery; 21) Fire Extinguishers – there has been the fixing of fire extinguishers at all stores and at vantage points, while old/expired extinguishers have been serviced.
Then, there has been the 22) Provision of free Wi-Fi and Internet Connection service for Unit personnel to assist in accessing educative sites and research work for those furthering their education; 23) Equipping all offices with furniture, equipment, TVs and fridges; and 24) Twenty (23) Soldiers were promoted to various ranks in the December 2023 promotions.
BSD’s core functions are the provision of Combat Service Support and Administrative Support to GAF Units. It continues to support training and exercises of the various training institutions, and contributes troops for both external (all United Nations Peace Support Operations) and internal Operations like Demonstration duties, and national Night Patrols.
Other Senior Officers at the ceremony included the former Commander, SP SVC BDE GP – Brig Gen John Agyakwa, Director – Supply and Transport – Col Fusheini Abdulai Nagtoma, Col Roland Kwao-Adotey, and a number of Directors of GAF.
