Kofi Ampeah Woode
The Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College (GAFCSC) has once again been called upon to venture into unexplored areas necessary for national development, by developing modules and programmes that will challenge the ingenuity of the youth, particularly in digitalization awareness and Cyber security related issues.
Ghana’s Vice President – His Excellency (HE) Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia made the call at GAFCSC’s Joint Graduation Ceremony for Senior Command and Staff Course 44, and the Master of Science in Defence and International Politics (MDIP) Class of 2023, which was held at the military college, Teshie Ridge on Friday 18 August 2023.
The VEEP, who is Chairman of the Ghana Armed Forces Council, a year ago, at the graduation of MDIP Class of ’22, first made the call, and this time round, requested the Staff College Control Board and the Military High Command to leverage on the military college’s status and prominence to help with strategies that will contribute to government’s digitization agenda.
He furthered that it has been acknowledged the world over, that the military and technology are inseparable, thus GAFCSC should explore and tap into other areas of study that are necessary for the socio-economic development of Ghana and the African continent.
He described GAFCSC as an institution that has carved a niche for itself as the destination of choice for Allied military Officers, who have a desire to achieve professional excellence, to be equipped to function effectively and efficiently in higher appointments as middle-level leaders and managers, in their respective Armed Forces.
Dr Bawumia also called upon corporate bodies to assist the College, as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives, in GAFCSC’s infrastructural and modernization projects that the Commandant – Major General (Maj Gen) Irvine Ayittey Aryeetey – through internally generated funds, is embarking on.
In a report on activities of GAFCSC for the 2022/23 academic year, General Aryeetey gave the account as following:
Senior Command and Staff Course 44 commenced on Friday 9th September 2022, with an increased strength of 86 Officers from the previous Course strength of 82. Sixty (61) of the Officers were drawn from the GAF, while the remaining 25 were Officers from eleven (11) other African countries namely; Benin, Botswana, Cote d’ivoire, The Gambia, Liberia, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Togo.
Eighty Five (85) military students passed the Senior Command and Staff Course and gained the symbol, “psc – passed staff course”. Seventy-six (76) out of the 85 Military students additionally graduated with MDIP certificates.
The Weekend MDIP Class of 2023 was the eighth course since 2015, with graduating students being professionals from all walks of society, and out of the fifty-one (51) who enrolled for the programme, forty-six (46) graduated.
The curriculum of the regular military students comprised both military and Academic programmes, and enabled students to develop the needed capacity to appreciate the complex nature of modern security concerns with respect to Ghana, the African continent and the world in general.
Specifically packaged modules such as Maritime Governance, Defence Management, Conflict and Crisis Management, Peace Operations and Counter-Terrorism, and Counter Improvised Explosive Devices Courses were run to integrate the Military and Academic programmes.
An Experiential Learning module that included Regional and African Study Tours, designed to enhance the research capabilities of students on topical local and continental issues, as well as broaden their outlook with respect to local and international geopolitics, had research papers that students submitted at the end of these tours to the Ghanaian Government, in order to contribute to policy making.
In a national study tour conducted in the Brong, Central, Eastern and Upper West Regions of Ghana, the students conducted research on the topic: ‘Small Scale Mining and the Socio-Economic Impact on Communities: Optimising Gains and Mitigating the Wider Security Implications.’
An Africa Study Tour under the theme: ‘Silencing the Guns in Africa through Concerted Collaboration of African Militaries’, took students to Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda and South Africa.
Ghana’s military College, which currently offers the Master in Defence and International Politics programme for both the regular military and weekend students, will commence 2 new programmes in the coming academic year, namely; the Master of Science in Security Studies and a PhD in Defence and International Politics.
The Commandant listed a number of projects that GAFCSC has embarked upon within the academic year; the College procured and mounted a 500 KVA Generator to replace the 32-year-old one; near-completion of a medical aid post, near-completion works to provide Intercom services of 100 lines to all offices, classrooms and accommodation areas in the College.
Then there is 70% of work done to upgrade the College’s website and provide a learning management system that would connect all activities of students and lecturers, including access to worldwide library services; the acquisition of a plagiarism software that is available to both students and staff.
Additionally, there is the construction of a Model Room and Simulation Center to practicalize teaching and learning (which would be available to the rest of GAF, other Security Services and organizations who may require it for the same purpose, or test their plans and decisions; soon to procure 200 laptops for students of both the Senior and Junior Courses to enhance learning; and also the acquisition of two smart screens and smart podiums for use by lecturers and students.
At the awards, OVERALL BEST GRADUATE (Minister for Defence’s Prize), also known as Honour Graduate award, went to Major (Maj) KWADWO OTCHERE-PREMPEH, who also won BEST ARMY GRADUATE (the Chief of the Army Staff’s Prize), and dedicated a giant trophy won, to Ghana’s Chief of the Army Staff – Maj Gen Thomas Oppong-Peprah.
SECOND OVERALL BEST (the Chief of the Defence Staff’s Prize) went to LT CDR FELIX TSEKPESTE; THIRD OVERALL BEST Commandant’s Prize went to Maj PRINCE SINTIM AMOAH; the OVERALL BEST GRADUATE for the MDIP Class of 2023 went to MR SANI MOHAMMED; BEST NAVY STUDENT (Chief of the Naval Staff’s Prize) went to Lieutenant Commander (LT CDR) FELIX TSEKPETSE; the Chief of the Air Staff’s Prize went to Squadron leader (SQN LDR) EMMANUEL ANNANG ADJETEY.
Dignitaries present included Minister for Defence and Member of Parliament for Bimbilla, Honorable Dominic Nitiwul, Minister for Interior and Member of Parliament for Nandom, Honorable Ambrose Dery, Chief of the Naval Staff – Rear Admiral Issah Adam Yakubu, Chief of the Air Staff – Air Vice Marshal Frederick Bekoe, the Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration – Professor Samuel Kweku Bonsu Commandants of Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre and Training Doctrine Command – Maj Gen Richard Addo Gyane, and Maj Gen Bismarck Onwane, respectively.
By Kofi Ampeah-Woode
