Military Unhappy

…As Gov’t. Ridicules Military Top Brass For Political Gains

In a move calculated to foster a misleading impression to the people of Ghana that the presidential jets that the NPP government is acquiring are for military purposes, the government had the military top brass lined up like school kids in Parliament for close to five hours last Thursday.

But the obvious attempt at using the presence of the military top brass at the Parliamentary hearings to create the impression that the Military is solidly behind the purchase of the presidential jets is generating an unintended reaction from the troops, who know that the presidential jets have absolutely nothing to do with their military operations.

A number of both currently serving and retired military personnel, both of officer ranking and other ranks, called the Weekly Standard to complain about the manner in which the Military top brass were being used as pawns in the NPP government’s chess game.

The displeasure of the military personnel stem from the fact that even though government has announced its intention to purchase some military aircraft for the Ghana Airforce, the agreement that was before Parliament on Thursday was not one for the purchase of military aircrafts, but a purchase of presidential jets that, even though it would be managed and operated by the Ghana Airforce, would not be used for any military operation.

“So why were our leaders summoned to line up in Parliament as if the agreement that was to be debated upon was for buying operational aircrafts for the military? This is very wrong, and it creates the impression as if the military top brass have become politicians,” one very highly placed officer scoffed.

A retired officer who also called the Weekly Standard complained bitterly about the misimpression that the presence of the Military top brass in Parliament last Thursday created was likely to create in the minds of the people. “I certainly would support the presence of the high command at any parliamentary hearing to do with the purchase of purely military equipments. But their presence in Parliament last Thursday, not to talk of the fact that they had to sit and idle away in the House from around 11.00am to around 1.00pm before the actual debate started, smacks of belittling the grave responsibilities that these men carry as the defenders of our nation,” the retired military officer lamented.

“Purchasing a presidential jet is not a military decision, it is a political decision. The military high command should not have been brought in to Parliament House for the debate over the loans to purchase presidential jets,” echoed another (serving) officer.

It would be recalled that last Thursday, when the loan agreement for the purchase of the Falcon 900 presidential jet was to be debated in parliament, the Military top brass idled away in parliament for several hours before the debate finally got underway, and they had to stay through the debate.