Be Worthy Partners of Peace, Security Agencies advised(Centre Spread) 24 September, 2008

Story:Michael Donkor
A member of the National Security Council, Naval Captain Ignatius Kwabena Ankobiah (retd), has urged personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) to be worthy partners for peace and not to be seen as instruments of terror or brutality.
He also charged the officers and men to help in their own way to forge new civilian and military relationships by ensuring that the use of force was always in conformity with constitutional rights.
Naval Capt. Ankobiah made the call at the graduation ceremony of Junior Staff Course 55 at the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College (GAFCSC) in Accra yesterday .
Those who graduated included officers from Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Togo.
Naval Captain Ankobiah said in the same vein that the personnel should be the instrument of transformation towards the building of a modern military force for the management of the challenges of the 21st century.
He urged them to endeavour to market the GAF as a vital and dependable institution of state.
Naval Capt Ankobiah said the clarion call for democracy and good governance was reverberating through the length and breadth of countries in the sub-region and the rest of the Africa.
He said as security personnel they were the guardians of the constitution.
He reminded them that the oath they took enjoined them to remain loyal to the state.
Naval Capt. Ankobiah asked the potential staff officers and commanders to master the rudiments of the profession and always be one step ahead of their subordinates at all times.
He said this called for self-education and higher academic development.
The Commandant of the GAFCSC, Major-Gen. Richardson Baiden, said the course had been designed to turn out modern officers who were conversant with the needs of the changing paradigm of defence and security matters.
He said the Command aimed at training selected officers to perform staff functions by developing their leadership, analytical and communication skills, while providing the foundation for their career development.