German Parliamentary Committee on Crisis Management visits Ghana

Accra, Oct. 15, GNA - Lieutenant General Joseph Smith (Rtd), the Minister of Defence, has appealed to the German government to extend its support to the Ghana Armed Forces and Staff College to enable it improve on security intelligence of the country.

General Smith acknowledged the support of the German government towards the health care delivery system of the country, saying many medical doctors were trained in that country. The Minister said this when a seven- member delegation from the German Parliamentary Committee on Crisis Management called on him in Accra on Thursday.

The delegation was made up of members of Germany's five political parties in parliament.

He said with the discovery of oil in Ghana, there would be challenges but government was doing everything possible to put structures in place to manage them.

General Smith said the German government was helping to construct a standby engineering force for the armed forces, saying plans were also advanced to build a military camp in the Northern Region. He said the two countries were redefining the cooperation that existed between them for the past years.

Mr. Joachim Spatz, the leader of the delegation, congratulated the country for a smooth transition of power from one elected government to another and for showing an exemplary democratic leadership in Africa. He said the focus of the Committee was to build a peaceful atmosphere in Africa that would promote and improve on the political, social and economic development of countries.