WWII Veteran wants to go to London to protest to the Queen

Accra, Jan 30, GNA - A World War Two Veteran wants to be given the opportunity to travel to England to protest directly to Queen Elizabeth against the shabby treatment being meted out to Veterans.

Ex-Private Kofi Tawiah, Spokesman for 25 surviving Veterans of the West African Frontier Force resident in the Legion Village in Accra, said: "The Veterans Association of Ghana (VAG) has abandon us to our fate. They don't look after us. We have to be given rations every morning but this has been denied us."

Ex-Private Tawiah was speaking when he received a cow, two bags of rice and three gallons of cooking oil from Mr Frank Mpare, Chief Director of the Ministry of Defence (MOD), who was making the presentation on behalf President John Agyekum Kufuor at the Legion Village in Accra on Friday.

Ex-Private Tawiah handed over a letter containing their grievances to Mr Mpare and demanded that Britain should send an envoy to Ghana to take him to The Buckingham Palace to complain personally about the plight of the Veterans, who fought for Britain in the World War II. He told Mr Mpare that the donation would not solve their problem. Mr Mpare told the Veterans that the Government recognized the sacrifices they made when they fought to defend Ghana and to keep world peace.

He said that the Government would make sure that retired service personnel were properly catered for and that programmes were being put in place to ensure that soldiers lived better lives after retirement. Mr Mpare said Government would soon come out with programmes to satisfy their needs, particularly increments in their allowances. "Government is still interested in you and Ghana is thankful for your services", Mr Mpare told them.

There are about 4,000 war veterans spread throughout the country. The 25 beneficiaries of the President's package are those, who live at the Legion Village.