Kofi Ampeah Woode
Ghana Army’s 5 Infantry Battalion (5Bn) received the General Officer Commanding (GOC), Southern Command (S/COMD) – Brigadier General (Brig Gen) Isaac Nicholas Paintsil, on his maiden visit to the Battalion since assuming command.
The traditional visit took place on Tuesday 3 June 2025, with the Commanding Officer (CO), 5Bn – Lieutenant Colonel (Lt Col) Prosper Adablah, receiving and briefing the Commander of his battalion’s parent-Unit at the Battalion Headquarters, Arakan Barracks, Burma Camp, Accra, assisted by his Acting Second-In-Command (2IC) – Major Muktar Saani.
Brig Gen IN Paintsil, accompanied by Staff Officers of his Command, was also guided on a tour of a few facilities and projects of 5Bn, such as the Standby/Operation Calm Life Block, the under-construction 3-storey Young Soldiers’ Accommodation, and the SG Odei Lounge/Restaurant.
After the brief, the GOC stated to the CO and his Key Appointment Holders that their Unit can be perceived as the most critical Unit in the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), considering the importance of assignments under its Area of Operational Responsibility (AOR).
He also approved of efforts to acquire for the Unit, a Forward Operating Base (FOB) in Kasoa, in the Central Region, to reduce reaction time to situations, as he urged the troops to be vigilant at duty points.
At a durbar with troops and Defence Civilian Staff (DCS), the GOC urged them to pay good attention to their health, make good use of the health centers provided by GAF, stay away from substance abuse, gambling, and abuse of social media, and rather focus on education, whose benefits would be reaped after retirement.
He highly commended the Unit for paying attention to its given mission, and to Lt Col Adablah, for rallying round his troops within the short period that he had been at command, and the tasks he has set for his leadership.
5Bn – affectionately called Mighty 5, and Pink Lions – have the Greater Accra and Central Regions of Ghana as their AOR, with populations of over 5.4 million and 2.8 million, respectively.
Principal settlements in the Greater Accra Region under 5Bn’s AOR are Accra Central, Madina, Adenta, Dansoman, Weija, Teshie-Nungua, Tema, and Ningo-Prampram, with flashpoints including Nima, Jamestown, Ablekuma, Madina, and Ningo-Prampram;
Portions of the Greater Accra Region, such as Tema, Ashaiman, Dawhenya, Afienya, and Kpone-Katamanso, have been ceded to 1 Infantry Battalion who are also based in the Region but are in charge of the Eastern region, whereas 5Bn also undertakes internal security responsibilities of areas like Nsawam-Adoagyiri, Kitase, Brekusu, etc., which are in the Eastern Region.
Greater Accra hosts key institutions, and the Headquarters of various security agencies in the country, such as GAF, Police, Prison, Immigration, National Fire Service, Customs Division of Revenue Authority, National Intelligence Bureau, etc.
The Central Region has 20 Municipalities/Districts and 23 Constituencies, with the major settlements including Kasoa, Winneba, Agona-Swedru, Saltpond, Cape Coast, Elmina, Mankessim, Assin Fosu, Twifo-Praso and Dunkwa-on-Offin.
Flashpoints in the region include Dunkwa-on-Offin, Diaso, Assin Fosu, Cape Coast, Agona-Swedru, Winneba, Buduburam, and Kasoa.
Security threats in the two regions include terrorism propagation, small arms and light weapons, political clashes/riots, labor and industrial unrest, illegal mining and lumbering, land grabbing, vigilantism, land-guard activities, chieftaincy disputes, violent crimes, cybercrimes, and periodic floods.
5Bn conducts a number of internal security operations in line with GAF directive to assist civil authorities with law and order, such as Operations CALM LIFE, SAFE, CITADEL, MOTHERLAND, MAIDA BUURI, HALT, BOAFO etc., and also conducts day and night patrols within known hotspots daily.
The Unit also conducts long-range patrols in the Central Region, and is developing situational awareness with other security agencies in the region, to make patrols more effective, to reduce criminal activities within the AOR.
5Bn additionally performs duties at the Bank of Ghana, Cedi House, the Weija Dam, GAF lands at Gomoa Fetteh and within Greater Accra; and also provides troops to clear suspected terrorist action groups, illegal immigrants, and nomadic herdsmen, to deny them freedom of movement and action in northern Ghana.
In spite of the hectic schedules, 5Bn finds the space to hold Platoon level training, Pre-Course Cadres, Young Officers’ Orientation Cadre, Young Soldiers’ Regimental Training, Physical and Recreational Training, Operation Calm Life (joint military-police operations) training, and Exercise March and Shoot training.
Challenges of the Unit include ever-increasing inadequate accommodation for troops, structural defects, uncompleted accommodation projects – which include a two-bedroom 16-unit storage building for accommodation for Young Officers, which commenced in 2021, and the Young Soldiers’ 3-storey accommodation, which commenced in 2022.
Another critical challenge is the issue of frequent breakdown of the communal sewage system, due to high population of barracks residents, leading to frequent spillages of sewage, causing environmental pollution, which is exacerbated during the raining season.
At the GOC tour were the Command Operations Officer – Col Lawrence Agbedoawu; the Command Logistics Officer – Col Franklin Gyamerah-Amoako; the Command Chaplain – Lt Col Francis Obodai Lokko; Chaplain of Arakan – Reverend Thomas Addo; Command Sergeant Major, S/COMD – Senior Warrant Officer (SWO) Class 1 Yussif Naabo; Regimental Sergeant Major, 5Bn – SWO II Kamaldeen Amadu, amongst others.
By Kofi Ampeah-Woode
