The Minister for Defence, Dominic Nitiwul and the Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, His Excellency (HE) Lu Kun have cut sod for construction of nine building projects across four different locations for the Ghana Armed Forces.
The projects are being sponsored by the Chinese government, as part of military aid to improve the infrastructure of the Ghana Armed Forces.
The projects, which will be built by the China Railway No.5 Engineering Group Company Limited (CR5), will be sited at the Army Recruit Training School at Shai Hills, the Naval Training Command at Nutekpor-Sogakope, Air Force Training School at Takoradi and the Battle Training Camp, Bundase.
The projects will provide critical assets to enhance training levels, improve accommodation conditions and meet the operational needs of GAF personnel.
The Minister for Defence, Dominic Nitiwul, speaking at the ceremony stated that the China Military Aid Gratis Project has come at a better time to help GAF in solving its infrastructure needs since GAF will need additional accommodation for 12,000 troops within the next five years.
The Minister for Defence commended H.E Lu Kun, the Chinese Military and all stakeholders for ensuring the commencement of the projects.
The Chinese Ambassador, in his address, expressed gratitude to all Ghanaians and Chinese officialswho facilitated the implementation of the projects.
He congratulated the Army Peace Operations Training School (APOTS) as the first Training School in West Africa to receive United Nations (UN) Certification to train personnel for Peace Support Operations.
H.E Lu Kun stated that Ghana was the second country in the Sub-Saharan whose diplomatic relations with China has been continuously consolidated and cooperative in various fields.
He revealed that through various means such as Port calls, joint exercises and training, China has provided strong support to African countries in strengthening National Defence and launched an assistance programme to help train African Military personnel in the area of Law and Order, UN Peacekeeping missions, Anti-Piracy and Counter-terrorism.
He further commended Ghana for being ranked in the top ten (10) Troop Contributing Countries to UN Missions and expanding its military to defend the nation against internal and external threats.
