The government’s commitment to giving the National College of Defence Studies (NCDS) the assistance it needs to improve the strategic leadership of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) and establish it as a center of excellence has been reiterated by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
He clarified that such assistance would help lower the cost of educating security people overseas and allow the nation to take charge of its defense and security education.
“The establishment of this college is not only an administrative move but a forward thinking decision rooted in our need for self-reliance in developing military and civilian leaders who understand both the global security landscape and our own national security priorities,” President Akufo-Addo said.
President Akufo-Addo was speaking at the maiden graduation of 19 graduands of NCDS Course 1 in
Accra on Saturday on the theme, “Our environment, our security, and our development.”
In May 2023, the NCDS was created to provide strategic training to top military commanders with the rank of colonel or higher, as well as relevant national agencies with the same rank.
“While our best and graduands personnel have long been educated abroad, bringing back invaluable knowledge and skills, the financial cost has been a challenge,” he continued.
Two senior civil servants and seventeen senior military officers from the Ministry of Defense and National Security were among the graduates.
President Akufo-Addo awarded them certificates as Fellow of NCDS (fncds) and a Master of Arts in Strategic Studies (MSS) degree.
For those who could not commit to a full year of in-person study, he challenged the college’s faculty to remain dynamic and creative while also creating short-term programs on important subjects.
He said that this strategy would increase the college’s influence and reach while enabling other public officials and leaders to take advantage of its courses.
He said that the government had obtained both internal and external funds to build a permanent campus for the college with assistance from the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) and the Republic of China.
President Akufo-Addo encouraged the graduates to improve the GAF’s strategic operation by applying the strategic skills they learned in college.
Major General Irvine Nii-Ayitey Aryeetey, the College’s commandant, gave the report, stating that the graduates participated in a number of strategic leadership seminars and lectures as well as study excursions as part of the course.
The college plans to expand the enrollment of course 2, which will start in February of next year, from 19 to 30 participants, including 18 military officers, five senior civil servants, and seven associated participants, according to Major General Aryeetey.
He stated that money and obtaining a permanent location were still the college’s two biggest obstacles.
In order to lessen their financial burden, he consequently pleaded with the government to assist in the purchase of a permanent location and to put the college on a subvention to help operationalize its five-year strategic plan.
The government agencies, departments, and ministries were urged by Major General Aryeetey to utilize the spaces that the college had made available for the upcoming course.
He thanked the current Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Lieutenant General Thomas Oppong-Peprah, Major General Affram, and his team, as well as the former CDS, Vice Admiral Seth Amoama, for their contributions to the creation, sustainability, and advancement of the NCDS curriculum concept.
During the occasion, Mr. Dominic Nitiwul, the Minister of Defense, presented Honorary Fellowship awards to President Akufo-Addo, Vice Admiral Amoama, and Mrs. Douha Smith, the late Lieutenant General Joseph Henry Smith’s wife.
Additionally, Vice Admiral Amoama, President Akufo-Addo, and the family of the late Lieutenant General Henry Smith gave leadership, strategy, and dissertation honors to Naval Captain Michael A. Larbi, Colonel Kwesi Ayima, and Colonel Foster O. Okae-Yeboah.
Major General Aryeetey and other senior defense staff members of the college were also given the Dagger award by the CDS, which symbolized their strength, perseverance, moral character, and intelligence.
Source: newsthemegh.com