After weeks of undercover investigations, The Chronicle can report authoritatively that men from the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) specifically from the Tema Naval base of the Eastern Naval command are now engaged in the unconventional practice of performing guard duties at private companies in the Tema Municipality.
After several rounds of reconnaissance it was established that several companies have managed to secure personnel from the Naval base for guard duties.
Some of the private institutions where navy personnel have been performing the guard duties include the Shell and Total filling stations both located close to the roundabout on the Aflao road, near the Tema end of the Accra- Tema Motorway.
Our checks revealed that both fuel filling stations have men for only night duties.
Others that had secured the service of armed navy men for guard duties are companies like Sethi Brothers, dealers in paints at the Tema Industrial Area, where men are supplied for both day and night, Tropical Cable Company Limited (only night duty), and Keysens Ltd, a distributor of Unilever products at Tema Community 7, where there were two armed men at the time of our visit, as well as a gas filing station, which is just opposite the Naval base.
Just like security personnel from the numerous private security companies, the navy men were seen at all the places visited, seated at vantage points close to the sites and monitoring with eagle eyes, customers who moved in and out of the shops.
Their neat sea-blue shirts worn on top of well-ironed blue-black trousers with the usual long heel boots plus the sophisticated rifles professionally clutched, however, clearly distinguish them from the usual unarmed personnel from the private security companies.
When the paper contacted the Tema Naval Command for its reaction, they declined to comment on the matter referring the paper to the Public relations directorate.
On Monday, the Public Relations Director (PRD) of the Ghana Armed Forces, Col. E. K. Nibo told the paper that he was not aware of any such practice in the Military. He said apart from some mining areas, where some military men have been deployed he was not aware of any arrangement of having military men performing guard duties for private companies.
“I know the military perform joint patrols with the police. Apart from that, if it is about performing duties for private institution, then not that I know of; and I don’t think military men would put themselves up for any such guard duties,” Col. Nibo told the paper in a telephone interview, stressing that it was important for the paper to disclose to him the unit that was involved in such exercise for him to do the necessary follow-ups.
Sources within the GAF, however told the paper that the practice, though not allowed in the service, had been going on for sometime now. The sources could neither tell how much was being charged for the services being rendered to the private companies nor tell who was receiving the monies generated from the exercise.
The sources indicated that they were aware that institutions that have officially arranged with the administration of the Ghana Police Service to be provided with police personnel for guard duties, were paying a million cedis or more a month per person for every twelve hours and were therefore convinced that the Naval Command would be receiving tens of millions of cedis each month from the guard duties being performed by the navy men.
It was further gathered from our military sources that not even a single personnel from the Ghana Navy was currently involved in the official joint Military/police patrols. The sources said the reason for the non-involvement of navy personnel in the joint military exercises has always been the excuse that there were inadequate navy personnel.
