Probably, the biggest problem Ghana Military Academy
(GMA) suffers from is its co-location with MATS at Teshie. Organizationally,
GMA is one of the thirteen training institutions that come under the
Commandants of MATS.
GMA therefore does not enjoy the independence or
autonomy that other military academies enjoy. To give a few examples, the Royal
Military Academy, Sandhurst, UK, the India Military Academy, Dehra Dun, India
and the National Defence Academy (NDA) Nigeria are all autonomous schools
commanded by Major Generals. In all respect therefore, particularly in the area
of finance, the Commandant is the sole authority.
IN GMA, HOWEVER, THIS IS NOT THE CASE. INDEED, AS
HAS BEEN STATED EARLIER, SOME COMMANDANTS OF MATS SEE GMA AS A UNIT UNDER THEM
AND TRY UNDULY TO INTERFERE WITH GMA’S ACTIVITIES PARTICULARLY WITH THE ACADEMY
BUDGET. THIS HAS OFTEN LED TO CONFLICT BETWEEN COMMANDANTS MATS AND COS GMA.
The solution to this age-old problem is to change
the present organization and move GMA away from its present location to a site
where it will be completely autonomous as is the case in the examples given.
Sandhurst, Dehra Dun and NDA are all commanded by Major Generals.
FURTHERMORE, THE PRESENT ARRANGEMENT THAT HAS GMA AS
A UNIT UNDER MATS FORMATION AND THEREFORE MAKES BASIC DEMANDS LIKE ROUTINE
LETTERS TO HIGHER HEADQUARTERS BEING ROUTED THROUGH MATS HQ HAS PROVED
ANACHRONISTIC.
Double handling and resultant time wastage aside,
this arrangement demeans the status of GMA as the only institution responsible
for producing officers for the Ghana Armed Forces.
GMA MUST BE AN AUTONOMOUS INSTITUTION WITH ITS OWN
BUDGET AND A COMMANDANT WHO REPORTS DIRECTLY THROUGH THE CHIEF OF STAFF TO THE
CHIEF OF DEFENCE STAFF IN CONSONANCE WITH THE TRI-SERVICE NATURE OF THE
INSTITUTION. THIS SITUATION MAY BE LIKENED TO WHAT HAPPENS AT THE GHANA ARMED
FORCES COMMAND AND STAFF COLLEGE WHERE THE COMMANDANT DEALS DIRECTLY WITH THE
CHIEF OF STAFF. WITH ALL THE
INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION AND REPUTATION GMA HAS, WHAT IS WRONG WITH HAVING AT
LEAST A BRIGADIER AS THE HEAD?
Again, to bring it in line with convention in
military academies modeled on Sandhurst lines, the present title of the head as
Commanding Officer of the Ghana Military Academy must reviewed and possibly
changed to the Commandant of the Ghana Military Academy.
Another reason for advocating GMA’s movement from
the present location is that, when it was established in the 1960s, there were
no nearby settlements which interfered with training.
To the north of GMA, there was an open stretch of
savannah grassland of over ten kiloimetres to Madina. Eastwards, there was an
equally long stretch of land to Ashaiman. Today, all these areas are fully
built up with GMA hemmed in.
The result is that there is no local training area
to practice basic drills taught in the classroom as was the case in my days as
a cadet in the early 1970s. The logistic strain of constantly moving cadets out
of GMA to practice basic field drills can be imagined
.
A pertinent question which arises immediately is,
where can GMA be moved to, considering the serious financial implications this
will entail?
Providence appears to have given an ideal location
for GMA’s future relocation. Just an hour’s drive north-east of Teshie is the
Asutware Camp.
This old camp occupies the northern part of the Shai
Hills which is itself part of the Bundase training area.
With only a little bit
of modification, the Asutware Camp can be developed into an ideal place for the
GMA.
It is only an hour’s drive from Accra but sufficiently far to keep cadets
and instructors alike from any distractions.
Once the problem of relocation has been solved, the
next issue will be that of instructors and their stability in GMA. Because of
Ghana’s unique role in international peacekeeping operations, instructors in
GMA often have to break their tour to contribute towards such operations. Added
to this is the sometimes erratic bulk posting of instructors out of GMA at the
same time. When this happens, experience built over time is suddenly lost.
A possible solution to this problem could be the
posting of officers to GMA for a fixed period of between two and three years
during which there should be no break in service for any course or operation.
Once the instructor finishes his tour, he could then be recompensed for his
sacrifice with an overseas course and a long tour of duty on a UN peacekeeping
mission.
Again, periodic visits by GMA instructors to foreign
military academies and training institutions will give the instructor greater
exposure and by implication a better output from him.
Similarly, foreign instructors could be invited on a
reciprocal basis to share their experiences with GMA instructors. This way,
instructors will show more commitment and dedication knowing that they would
have nothing to lose while teaching in GMA.
Additionally, the point has been made that for very
obvious reasons the instructor in GMA deserves some allowance. The GMA
instructor routinely travels away from home and family on exercises. The
emotional as well as the physical demands exacted on him cannot be
overemphasized.
In the mosquito endemic zone we find ourselves in,
malaria naturally takes its toll on the instructor. By the very nature of the
job, the GMA instructor has to make several out of hours trips to GMA using his
own car and well turned out in mufti at all times. All this impinges on the
finances of the GMA instructor.
Currently, between the two regular courses and the
one SSC/SD course, GMA takes a maximum of about one hundred cadets. This
limitation is imposed by classrooms and accommodation. Once GMA moves into a
location with bigger facilities, the intake of cadets can be increased to
improve on the current average of sixty cadets commissioned every year, which
appears to be on the low side, especially with the very high attrition rate
particularly of young officers.
The next issue to be looked at is that of the
minimum entry requirements for the regular cadet. After being pegged at the
General Certificate of Education Advance Level since the 1970s, the minimum
entry requirement was lowered to the Senior Secondary School Certificate of
Education in 1998.
In the rapidly changing, technologically advanced
world of the twenty-first century, where frontiers of human knowledge are being
pushed further with higher and better education, it is simply inappropriate to
go in the opposite direction by reducing educational standards for future
officers of the Ghana Armed Forces.
I have stated earlier on in this book that, rather
sadly, interest in GMA by the staff appears to be only once a year and that is
during graduation in August. This national function which has the parade
reviewed by the head of state is the only occasion that staff officers from the
service headquarters visit GMA.
Incidentally, and maybe rather unfortunately, the
parade more or less serves as the yardstick for judging GMA’s performance over
the year. Whatever difficulties the academy encountered during the year does
not appear to matter once the parade is very successful.
GMA is a tri-service institution and it is highly
recommended that staff officers from Army, Navy and Airforce Headquarters take
more interest in GMA activities.
Again, alumni of GMA do not associate with GMA in
any way. So far, only the members of Regular Intake 20 have been kind enough to
support GMA. The group provided 4 lecterns: one each for the officer Cadet’s
Mess and the rooms of the courses.
This has been a laudable gesture and I hope that
many more intakes would begin to associate with the Academy in various ways.
Alas, intakes senior or junior to these pacesetters have not followed in the
good example.
The relationship between alumni of GMA and the
Academy is an important one. Apart from the material support ensures that
facilities are adequate, the moral support to the instructors and cadets is
immense. Many more of these alumni have good ideas for the development of the
GMA and our officer crop. Such associations and interactions will help us tap
these plans for the general good of GAF.
Again, in recent times, a trend has emerged towards
separate commissions and graduation parade by individual service. The Ghana
Military Academy is a tri-service institution and the only one responsible for
the training of cadets for commission into the Ghana Armed Forces.
In August 2001, for example, fifty cadets were
commissioned at GMA, Teshie. Then two months later in October 2001, nine naval
cadets were commissioned at Sekondi. Finally, two months later again in
December 2001, nine airforce cadets were commissioned in Takoradi. The question
is if GMA is a tri-service institution and the only one charged with the responsibility
of training cadets, why did we have three commissions in a space of only five
months between August and December 2001 for a total of less than eighty cadets?
What justification was there for expending all the
time, energy and meager resources available on three specific graduations at a
time when Ghana had declared itself a Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC)?
It is strongly recommended that graduation must be
held once a year for all graduating cadets at the Ghana Military Academy,
possibly in August as has been the case for some time now. Piecemeal
graduations as are becoming the vogue now only fritter away limited resources.
Finally, GMA which started in 1960 out of the ashes
of the 1953-bron Regular Officers Special Training School has trained over
three thousand cadets into commissioned officers not only for the Ghana Armed
Forces but also for sister African countries like Gambia, Liberia, Sierra
Leone, Burkina Faso and Uganda.
Without doubt, GMA has maintained a very high
standard as an institution of excellence for cadet training comparable with any
in the developed world. What problems I have identified and discussed are
purely institutional and human problems one expects in any human institution.
The recommendations made therefore are just aimed at
improving on GMA’s already high standards in our quest to maintain and possibly
improve it as a center of excellence for cadet training.
It is my fervent hope that, once these problems are
resolved, GMA will continue to grow from strength to strength as it continues
to provide highly motivated educated leaders of character imbued with the
academy’s motto of SERVICE, DEVOTION and SACRIFICE to serve mother Ghana, or
indeed any sister African country they may
come from.
It is my hope that, with such disciplined and
educated officers of character who understand and acknowledge the supremacy of
the constitution at the helm of affairs, the Ghana Armed Forces and others in
Africa will develop the cordiality and mutual respect with our civilian kith and
kin.
In this way, the necessary enabling environment will
be provided for governments to focus on national development to propel us
forward.
Culled from LEADERSHIP AND THE CHALLENGES OF COMMAND
by Brigadier General Daniel Kwadjo Frimpong (page 126 titled THE FUTURE)
