SECURITY SERVICES WILL CONTINUE TO RECEIVE MY ATTENTION - PREZ MAHAMA

By Kingsley Komla Adom and Kojo Nyeduala

Safety and security remain key plans in my transformation agenda as president and C-i-C of the Ghana Armed Forces, and will continue to receive my attention and continuous support, John Dramani Mahama said Thursday 25 February 2015 during the State of The Nation Address in parliament.

In fulfillment of this pledge, many projects according to president Mahama have been initiated and some completed in order to upgrade the status of the Ghana Armed Forces and other sister security agencies.

Delivering the state of the nation address to parliament pursuant to article 67 of the 1992 constitution of Ghana, to the third session of the sixth parliament of the fourth republic which reconvened on 3 February 2015, HE John Mahama said significant retooling of the security services over the past years remains an indication to his commitment to the course.

The Ghana Armed forces which took delivery of new hangars, aircraft, duty trucks, ambulances among others in 2014,he said will further be bolstered by new set of equipment.

He added that the government will this year procure vehicles, aircraft from China and Brazil, helicopters, armoured personnel carriers among others for use by the service to fight against contemporary and sophisticated crimes.

President John Mahama revealed that a-500-bed ultramodern military hospital facility under construction in the Ashanti Regional capital - Kumasi, to be wholly owned by the military, was steadily progressing and nearing completion. The facility when completed will be only the second military hospital in Ghana, and will serve the health needs of people living in and around Kumasi.

While neighboring Nigeria and other countries in the sub region continue to battle the activities of Islamist militant groups like Boko Haram, John Mahama took the opportunity to pledge support for these troubled sub regions, especially Nigeria and countries in the lake Chad Basin.

The C-i -C was particularly impressed with the output of the Ghana Armed Forces, and commended the service commanders, and personnel for their invaluable courage and dedication to duty in the defence of the territorial integrity of the country.

The humanitarian service the Ghana Armed Forces renders through peacekeeping missions across troubled regions in Mali, Congo, Liberia, Sudan and specifically the unique role played by Command together with other agencies to facilitate the establishment of the United Nations Mission on Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) in the Ghana during the peak stages of the Ebola scourge, were hugely commendable, he added.

According to the president, development of key infrastructure was not only for job creation, but also for general socio-economic transformation. In this light, he noted that government as part of its Accra-Tema Metropolitan Extension Water Supply Project, which is seeing some 9 million gallons of water produced per day to meet an estimated one-quarter of a million people in areas including Michel Camp, puts the country a step up, in its vision to attain the distribution of potable water to all households.

Additionally, a desalination water project having been introduced for the first time in the country, and is producing 13 million gallons of potable water per day to soldiers and their families living in the Teshie Military Barracks and other areas around Teshie, Nungua and the La Dade Kotopon enclave, remain a giant step in the right direction to make living conditions better for the soldiers in these parts.

President John Mahama quintessentially gave an update on the state of work on the Phases 1 & 2 Burma Camp roads, adding, the roads should be completed by end of year even as work progresses steadily on the stretch.

He finally pledged further commitment towards retooling and equipping the Ghana Armed Forces, as well as providing requisite platforms to enable them carry out their constitutional mandate.

Present at the house of legislature were Chief Justice – Her Ladyship Georgina Theodora Woode, ministers of state, members of parliament, members of the Diplomatic Corps, Service Chiefs, High-Ranking Officers from Ghana Armed Forces and other sister security services and political party heads among others.