Ghana-Britain to undertake joint military exercise

Ghana and Britain would undertake a joint military exercise in Ghana between November and December this year, Mr Kwabena Agyepong, Deputy Government Spokesman, announced on Tuesday. The exercise code-named "Ntemboafo" (Peacebroker), would be the largest of its kind the British Army had held in West Africa.

Some 500 British troops and supporting logistics would be involved, Mr Agyepong told reporters after Brigadier Andrews Stuart, Director of International Operations for the British Government, paid a courtesy call on President John Agyekum Kufuor at the Castle, Osu.

Mr Agyepong said the exercise was designed to increase the skills and co-operation between the military groups involved, improve the skills of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) and also to strengthen Ghana-Britain military partnership.

He said the visit by Brigadier Stuart was a visible sign of the military co-operation between Ghana and Britain and as a follow-up to the renewed military partnership between the two countries. Mr Agyepong said there had been a significant step in the programme of co-operation between them to increase the operational efficiency and combat readiness of the GAF.

He said the joint exercise also builds on the visit of British Prime Minister Tony Blair to Ghana in February and demonstrates Britain's commitment to the democratic credentials of the Ghana government. Brigadier Stuart, who is in charge of Africa and the Middle East at the British Ministry of Defence, said he was on a fact-finding mission to Africa.