Agalga, Nitiwul ‘fight’ over extension of service years for soldiers from 25 to 30

A law that seeks to extend the service years of other ranks in the military from 25 to 30 has attracted heated debate on the floor of the Parliament with the Minority describing it as a misplaced priority since it will weigh heavily on the financial resources of the country.

In the view of James Agalga, Ranking Member on the Defense and Interior Committee, should the law be made to stand, it will weaken the strength of the military, stressing that the standard practice the world over is to have a youthful fighting force that have the spirit and efficiency to defend the territorial integrity of their respective countries.

“This is a policy initiative captured in the Budget. Mr. Speaker, an L.I. has been laid to that effect but the point that needs to be made is that we are here talking about a fighting force. A fighting force is one that must be agile; a fighting force is one that must be youthful. But a policy which seeks to extend the service period of the other ranks from 25 years to 30 years in my view is a misplaced priority and should not be pursued. A fighting force which is aged cannot have the spirit and efficiency to defend our territorial integrity”, he noted.

He added “Mr. Speaker, I’ve done a lot of research on this subject area. In the UK for instance, the maximum period for service men and women is 22 years. In the United States of America, the maximum service period for the other ranks is 19 years. And so we are even more advanced in terms of the service period because ours is 25 years and now we are seeking to extend it to 30 years. Mr. Speaker, have we thought about the health implications – the fact that the extension of the service period is going to place a burden on our financial resources because we have to spend more money on the health needs of aged troops. We are not against any attempt to improve upon the conditions of service of the men and women in uniform”.

However, the Minister for Defense, Dominic Nitiwul, who was least enthused about the defense put up by the Minority, accused them of double standards.

To Mr. Nitiwul, he finds it very strange to believe why the Minority, especially, it’s Ranking Member on the Committee on Defense and Interior, James Agalga, who was part of the people who approved the law will turn around and criticize the government for the policy initiative that has been hailed by the military.

“Mr. Speaker, this policy was brought to the House in the form of an L. I. – L. I. 1332. This Parliament as expected as at yesterday, the 21 days had elapsed and it has become law. So, if the Honourable Ranking Member is now coming back to debate this matter, that is up to him. You are part of the committee that approved it and it has become a law so I don’t know what he is talking about. He is misleading the people of Ghana”, he noted.