Ghana to retool armed forces to prepare for emerging threats

by Alex Osei-Boateng

ACCRA, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Ghana's Minister for Defense Dominic Nitiwul on Thursday said the government would retool the security agencies, particularly the Armed Forces, to be adequately prepared to counter emerging threats, both globally and in the sub-region.

He said the dynamics in global threats and the ever-increasing role of non-state actors in conflict situations required the dedicated officers and men to live up to expectation.

Addressing the media in Accra, Nitiwul said so far Ghanaian troops had demonstrated the resilience, mental stamina and robustness and preparedness to deal with any of such threats, warding off arguments that spending on the Armed Forces would be a waste of resources as Ghanaians were so peaceful.

"The threat of terrorism is real. At least, we have seen the terrorist attacks in some of our nearby countries and we must be worried of its likely spread to this country.

"We therefore need to retool and modernize the Ghana Armed Forces in terms of equipment, vehicles, vessels and aircraft to meet the demands for security in the wake of the government's accelerated drive to develop our country," said Nitiwul. Enditem