Kofi Ampeah Woode
The Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), Ghana Army – Major General (Maj Gen) Lawrence Kwaku Gbetanu, has visited the 5 Infantry Battalion (5Bn), as part of his maiden tour of the Units under the Army, since his assumption of office.
The visit, which took place on Thursday 5 June 2025, had the General Officer Commanding, Southern Command – Brigadier General Isaac Nicholas Paintsil, and Principal Staff Officers of the Army Headquarters, and Southern Command, in the entourage of the COAS.
The Commanding Officer (CO), 5Bn – Lieutenant Colonel (Lt Col) Prosper Adablah, assisted by the Acting Second-In-Command – Major Muktar Saani and Key Appointment Holders of 5Bn, briefed Ghana’s Army Chief on the Administration, Logistics and Operations of the ‘Pink Lions’ – as the fraternity of 5Bn are affectionately referred to.
The brief contained a reminiscing short video of a parade, when the Battalion changed its old Colours to the present one, when Maj Gen LK Gbetanu was CO or “Lion-Hene” (king of the Lions), and the present Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM), 5Bn – Senior Warrant Officer Class Two (SWO II) Kamaldin Amadu, was in the Colour Party.
General Gbetanu later held a durbar with troops and Defence Civilian Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces who serve with the Battalion.
Lt Col Prosper Adablah, after the tour by the COAS, presented a ram to the Muslim community of his troops, in celebration of the 2025 Muslim feast of Eid Ul-Adha.
Receiving the gift, SWO II Kamaldin, on behalf of the Muslim community of the Lions fraternity, expressed gratitude to the CO, saying that the feast with the ram by the Lions, would further strengthen the bonds of unity in the entire community of 5Bn, regardless of religious persuasions.
By Kofi Ampeah-Woode
