It is not longer a question of if the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) will go; it is now a question of when he will go.
This paper has picked up signals from very reliable sources close to the National Security Secretariat and Castle that Lieutenant General Peter Augustine Blay (GH/1398) is to be retired very soon via a release signed by the secretary to the President.
Originally, Major General Carl Sena Modey (GH/1434) was penciled for the job after he not was elevated to the status of Force Commander in Liberia as he had been the Deputy Force Commander since 10th July 2008 and was posted to head the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) t o pave way for others.
We gather that Major General Modey would be re-called soon to take over as the next CDS as there are already two scenarios and in all cases, the current CDS would be a casualty. Plan A as we are told is to promoted General Modey to the rank of a three star General to take over from the CDS, who would retire one year short of the compulsory retiring ages for three Star Generals.
Plan B favors another option which will involve two casualties and a change in four appointments namely the Chief of Defence Staff, the Chief of Naval Staff, the Chief of Staff at the General Headquarters and the Commandant of the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College at Teshie.
Even though, the latter plan surprisingly is more popular with the ‘powers that be’, it is the one whose boomerang effects may be difficult to contain.
We gather that of the two plans, one option is to have the current CDS being retired and being replaced directly by the General CS Modey.
Plan B is to shift the Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral M Quashie (GH/1509) who is currently the number two in the hierarchy of seniority of the Ghana Armed Forces while Major General Modey is number five, followed directly by Rear Admiral MM Tahiru (GH/1435).
Additionally, Commodore GM Biekro (GH/1668) is to be promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral to take over from Rear Admiral Quashie as the Chief of Naval Staff at the Navy Headquarters. This, then paves way for Brigadier General DK Frimpong (GH/1433) to take over from ,Commodore GM Biekro as the Chief of Staff at the General Headquarters.
According to sources, in the absence of Brigadier General PK Opoku (GH/1426) and, Commodore F Daley (GH/1419) who are on diplomatic duties outside, General DK Frimpong is the senior-most Brigadier in Ghana.
Rumors making the rounds indicate that General DK Frimpong is to be given the appointment as a compensation for the demise of his brother in law, the late EC Quist (GH/1515). The last option of Plan B is to have Major General Modey replacing Major General Kwesi Yankson (GH/1339) who is set to go home by the end of the year come what may.
“It must however be stated empathically that the political cost of any of the options especially plan B could be enormous.
“Changing Blay worsens the plight of the Western Region which is last in terms of personnel in the categories of officers and men(less than 5% of the total personnel of both officers and men)”, the source noted.
Already, the Western Region has no Cabinet Minister in the Mills-Mahama administration with the departure of Dr, Sipa Yankey, also an Nzema
