A transition building for military officers at the United Nations (UN) Village inside Burma Camp has been named after the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Major General Thomas Oppong Peprah.
The edifice, which forms part of many structures to be developed at the UN Village, was commissioned yesterday.
The Oppong Peprah Block was constructed free of charge by Kwasi Amoo Siriboe, a contractor of BK Akafia Lounge, as a donation to the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF).
Maj. Gen Peprah, addressing officers and soldiers at the commissioning ceremony, expressed gratitude to the contractor, and added that the building had been his long standing dream when he was the Director of Army Peacekeeping Operations.
He explained that “When I was a Director of Army Peacekeeping Operations, and I was checking the troops for operations. At the end of the day, I saw some of them lie in their blanket under a shed at the 5BM and it was a rainy day. When I asked them, they have no place to go.”
Maj. Gen Peprah indicated that the troops who were stationed outside Accra and deployed to UN Peace mission do not have a place to stay for the period of transition.
He added that the problem had existed for many years, “and having been in peacekeeping from 1963, we did not have anything and anywhere for our officers and soldiers to lay their heads. I made it priority number one. So when I became Chief of the Army Staff that was the first project that I launched.”
According to him, it was the reason Mr. Siriboe was contracted to construct the BK Akafia Lounge, and the current edifice was an addition to the dream.
He said the plan was to have officers accommodation in addition, to a dinning hall, kitchen, parade square, a multi-purpose hall, and a complex game outfit.
Chief of Army Staff continued that “The whole concept is what we call the BK Akafi Transit Area. The plan is in the future, and I’m saying this and that why I have assembled great Generals this morning so that they carry on with this idea , to construct garages beyond this building where we can keep all our UN equipment and sorts.
“So that everything that is needed for UN Peace support operations could be kept over here.
So we christened this place the UN village.”
He described the allegations a calculated by their distractors to ruine their efforts to pursue their plans for officers and soldiers of the Forces.
The Deputy Chief Staff Officer, Brigadier General Kenneth Kweku Kwaah added that on July 1, 2021, saw the commission of 320-bed accomodation named after BK Akafia Lounge.
He added that the additional 40-bed accommodation for officers on transit to UN Peacekeeping would enhance the well-of the men and women of the military.
Mr. Siriboe, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Paragon Company Limited, said he donated the building to the Forces due to their good working relationship over the years.
He stated that he became privy to COAS vision after the commissioning the BK Akafia Lounge, and promised to construct the block for free.
