Kofi Ampeah Woode
Brigadier General Richard Edukwesi WOANYA
Ghana’s Defence Adviser
Embassy of the Republic of Ghana to Ethiopia & Permanent Mission to the Africa Union (AU) & United Nations Economic Commission to Africa (UNECA)
INTRODUCTION
Ghana played host to the 13th Edition of the African Games under the theme “Experience the African Dream”, to serve as a precursor to the Olympics which are convened quadrennially, and are coordinated by the African Union Sports Council.
Seeing young and exuberant sportsmen and women travelling from all parts of the continent to converge in Accra for the 13th Edition triggered the writing of this article and a nostalgic feeling that dates back about 30 plus years ago; for sports for the soldier, is not a profession, neither is it done at one’s freewill; it is a must and enforced at the training schools, Units, Formations, Service and Armed Forces levels.
Sports plays a significant role in the fitness and well-being of members of the armed forces of any country. The work culture and varied terrain both physical and emotional/psychological that the military operates places strenuous demand on the mental and physical toughness of both officers and soldiers.
As far back as at 1993, the writer as a Young Officer (Lieutenant) was deployed with his detachment at Saboba in the Northern Region of Ghana. The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) Military Detachment was drawn from the Airborne Force located in Tamale, Mile 9 barracks. The only source of entertainment for the troops was morning endurance training during which the troops sung and run long distances every morning. You can imagine running as a source of entertainment; an interesting habit acquired from basic military training at the Ghana Military Academy for the Young Officer and the Recruit Training Center for the Young Soldier.
Sporting activities help servicemen and servicewomen to build and maintain fitness levels suitable for the rugged and emotionally tensed terrain/environment they work. It builds esprit de corps and camaraderie amongst service personnel. The fitness benefits are unquestionable and it inculcates in the Officer and Soldier honesty, willpower, determination, resilience and endurance amongst others.
Sports is organised, coordinated and controlled at the highest level at the General Headquarters, Training Department of the GAF. The sports policy is issued with the Chief of the Defence Staff’s training directives for each training year, and is then captured in the training directives of each Service Commander (Army, Navy and Air Force), and filters through Formation to Unit training programmes.
It is then implemented at the sub-unit (Saboba Detachment for example), through Unit level (ABF) to Formation level (then 2 Brigade – to Northern Command – now Central Command in Kumasi).
The writer was Chief Operations Officer (COO) at the then Northern Command Headquarters (now Central Command Headquarters) from 2012 to 2015. Apparently, he was the Military Chief Training Officer with the In-Mission Training Cell (IMTC) of the United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) in Cote d’Ivoire (2011-2012).
As the COO, the writer was responsible for operations and training in the formation. He doubled as Commanding Officer of the Headquarters Camp (CO Camp). During this period, no soldier both male and female failed battle fitness test due to the rigorous sporting regime adopted by the writer. He personally participated in every morning endurance run through the length and breadth of Kumasi, routine unit games and unit fun games.
Officers and Soldiers who served at the headquarters still make reference to the strict sports regime implemented by the writer. To reiterate the policy directives on sporting activities is top down approach but the execution is down to top approach.
The responsibility for organising and officiating sports in the GAF rests with the Physical Training Wing of all units, training schools, formations and Service Headquarters. Organisation of sports in the GAF is aimed at instilling in all service personnel esprit de corps and competitive spirit. It also promotes friendship amongst different units and their personnel. It contributes immensely to the physical fitness of personnel and acts as a source of recreation at the Unit and sub-unit levels.
It is therefore evident that the importance and contribution of sports to the development of the GAF cannot be over empasised. It is against this milieu that this write up seeks to take a cursory look at sports in the GAF. To do this, the write up will discuss the types of sporting activities organised within the GAF, Unit Games, Levels of Competition in the GAF and achievements.
AIM
The aim of this write up is to give an insight into sporting activities in the GAF.
TYPES OF SPORTING ACTIVITIES ORGANISED IN THE GHANA ARMED FORCES
Sports in the GAF takes various forms. It involves athletics and games. The following are some of the athletics and games:
Athletics. Athletics includes field and track events undertaken by both servicemen and servicewomen and restricted to sports that are feasible in tropical regions like Ghana. Cross country and steeplechase competitions are also organised. Tug-of-war (Tug-of-peace) is another interesting activity usually organised during unit fun games. Swimming and horse riding are also part of the sporting activities. These sporting activities are well patronised and elicits competitive spirit amongst service personnel.
Games. Most competitive and recreational sporting activities undertaken in the Ghana Armed Forces are games. These include football, hockey, handball, volleyball, basketball and lawn tennis.
Boxing and Martial Arts. Boxing and martial art form an important part of the sporting activities in the GAF. They are normally taught and organised at the training schools to inculcate confidence and the art of self defence in officers and soldiers. At unit level, units prepare their boxers for inter unit, formation and service boxing competitions.
Gymnastic Displays. Gymnastic displays are sometimes organised by selected personnel as a form of entertainment during festive and formal ceremonies like unit West Africa Soldiers Social Activities (WASSA) celebrations, Medals Day and Independence Day Parades.
UNIT GAMES
Games are organised on weekly basis at the unit level and fun games on festive occasions. The following are the details:
Weekly Games. Unit games forms part of the mandatory training activities. The number of times it is organised per week depends on each unit’s sports policy, internal and external duties, leave and passes, course attendance et cetera. The variety of sporting activities organised is premised on the availability of the requisite equipment at the disposal of the unit. This is climaxed in inter sub-unit competition. The performance of individual service personnel informs those selected to represent the unit at inter unit level completion.
Fun Games. Fun games are organised at the unit level as part of activities lined up during festive occasions. The Airborne Force and Air Force Base Tamale has a long standing tradition of competitive but fun football games on every 26 December between Officers on one hand against Warrant Officers and Senior Non-Commissioned Officers on the other hand. The games start as the regular football and ends up as rugby or American Football. Each teams filed 11 players but at the end of the game… your guess is as good as mine.
LEVELS OF SPORTS COMPETITION
The Commander’s training directives usually outlines the sports programme of the training year upon which competitions are premised. It usually begins from sub-unit to unit level and then inter unit competition amongst units of the same formation. This then leads to formation then to service level competition.
Sub-unit and Unit Level Competition. Competitions at the sub-unit level begins with inter- company/squadron competitions from which unit teams are selected. The team then prepares for inter unit competitions held at formation level and hosted by one of the units in the command/formation.
Inter Formation/Command Competition.
Formation/Command teams are selected from the unit teams that participated in the inter unit formation sports competition. For instance, in Ghana Army teams are constituted around Northern, Central, Southern and Support Service Commands.
Inter Service Competition. All sporting activities in the Ghana Armed Forces culminates into inter Service Competitions. All three services, Army, Navy and Air Force are represented in these competitions, be it athletics or games. The competition at this level is organised and controlled by General Headquarters Department of Training although it is hosted and organised by one of the service on its behalf.
Inter Security Service Competition. When resources are available and exigencies of the time permits Inter Services (Security Service as used in the Ghanaian parlance) Games known as SESSA Games are organised and the GAF is represented by a team selected from the Service Teams that participated in the inter service competition. SSESA games involves GAF, Ghana Police Service, Immigration Services Prisons Service, Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority.
International Sports and Games. The GAF Games or Inter Service Competition also culminates into regional and continental level Armed Forces games involving the Armed Forces of member states of regional committees and continental union (Africa Union). GAF also participates in international competitions during Peace Support Operations. The GAF is represented by the Ghanaian contingent in the operational theater. GAF has chalked several laurels during such competitions.
ACHIEVEMENTS
The GAF has chalked remarkable achievements in sports. Though most of these were in the past it is worth mentioning just a couple these:
Athletics. GAF has produced a couple of good athletes who represented Ghana at the Olympics Games. The Daily Graphic: Issue 7973 of 8 June 1976 featured the clash between Musa Gariba (Airborne Force of the GAF) and Od-hiambo as the most interesting clash of the games during the tour of East Africa by the national boxing club the Black Bombers. Musa Gariba of the GAF took part in the first Olympics games in Montreal in 1976.
Games. A remarkable achievement in this area is the formation of the GAF football team SS74. SS74 competed in the national league in the 70s.
WAYFORWARD
To reiterate, Ghana is the host for the 13th African Games currently ongoing in Accra (08 to 23 March, 2024). It is pertinent to note that the GAF is a major stakeholder in the development and unearthing of talented sports men and women to constitute Team Ghana to compete in International Competitions. Pursuant to this, the GAF is envisaged to be formulating and implementing novel and pragmatic policies to engender the right response and output. This it is believe will augment the national effort to develop sports and unearth talents.
CONCLUSION
Sporting activities in the GAF is organized at the highest level through the Chief of Defence Staff’s training directives, which trickles through the service headquarters, formation headquarters to unit and sub-unit level training. It involves athletics, games and gymnastics. The implementation of the directives starts at the sub-unit, to unit, formation and then inter service competition. SSESA games or inter-continental or regional armed forces games are sometimes organised to unearth talents for Team Ghana to compete at nation state level on the international arena. Though there have been some remarkable achievements there is the need to step up efforts to unearth brilliant and excellent sports men and women to compete in games such as the African Games organised and coordinated by the Africa Union.
