Promote Brigadier General Atogebakog as Chief of Army Staff – Group

A concerned group of civilian employees of the Ghana Armed Forces has made a clarion call on their Commander-in-Chief, His Excellency President John Dramani Mahama, to effect an immediate promotion in their ranks.

In an open letter to the hardworking President Mahama, the group specify that a fixture of an outstanding officer, Brigadier General Alobawone Atogebakog, on his current rank for more than four years is unfair and informed by dirty politics in the army under former president Akufo-Addo, and must therefore be changed.

‘’for the injustice that Brigadier General Alobawone Atogebakog suffered under former president Nana Akufo-Addo due to the perception that he is pro-National Democratic Congress (NDC), we think that promoting him to the position of Chief of Staff of the Army would be good assuagement,’’ part of the open letter read. It was signed by Mr. Daniel Baccah, a civilian employee of the army and spokesperson for the group.

According to the letter, Brigadier General Alobawone Atogebakog has been due for, and richly deserving of promotion in the past four years.

However, because he was perceived to be pro-NDC, the Akufo-Addo government deliberately overlooked his promotion and stalled him on his current rank for four whole years.

‘’We know how Brigadier General Alobawone Atogebakog was more qualified for promotion than many, including his juniors like Major General Essien, who were promoted above him simply because he was perceived to be NDC,’’ the statement said.

It added, ‘’this injustice has been allowed to fester for too long and we believe that the time has come for justice to be done: make Brigadier General Alobawone Atogebakog the Chief of Army Staff,’’ the statement said.

It lamented that the injustice done Brigadier General Alobawone Atogebakog is a fallout from the politicization of Ghana’s military and that it does not augur well for the security of the country.

‘’We owe it a duty to commonsense to reverse this dangerous practice of politicization of our military because this is divisive. Politicization of any sort and in any area of national life is dangerous enough, however, politicization of the military is a downright play with civil war.

“We must reverse the trend and we think that doing justice to Brigadier General Alobawone Atogebakog is a good starting point,’’ the statement said.

Brigadier General Alobawone Atogebakog stands tall among all the Brigadier Generals in the Army. But some politicians and senior military officers are lobbying for their favourites and if care is not taken, this fine General with a brilliant and hardworking nature would be sidelined despite the fact that he is Senior to all the Brigadier Generals in the Army.

General civilian employees and military officers love his leadership style and he has not engaged in land scandals that would expose some of these Generals who sold military lands for their own benefits.

Brigadier General Alobawone Atogebakoga has about 30 years’ experience in the service with the Ghana Armed Forces and held many appointments within and outside Ghana. He is a graduate of the Legon Centre for International Affairs (Ghana) and the George Marshall European Centre for Strategic Studies (Germany). Aside the military career courses, Brigadier General Alobawone Atogebakoga has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Science from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana, and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Satellite Communications from the African Regional Centre for Space Science and Technology, Obafemi Awolowo University, in Ile-Ife-Nigeria.

He has served as Signals/Communication Officer for Ghanaian contingents in several peace support operations including United Nations Assistance Mission in Rwanda (UNAMIR) in 1995, ECOWAS Ceasefire Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) in Liberia (1996), and UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in 1995 and 2003. He also served as the Chief Signals Officer for UNIFIL from January 2004 to January 2005. Brigadier General Alobawone Atogebakoga served as a military observer with the UN Assistance Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) in 2007.

He was appointed the Commanding Officer for the Ghana Battalion under the auspices of the UN Mission in Cote d’Ivoire (UNOCI) from June 2010 to March 2011. He also had duty tours with the UN Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) as a Staff Officer from January 2012 to March 2013. Appointments held in the Ghana Armed Forces include Troop Leader, Officer Commanding 2 Signal Squadron and Deputy Director Communications responsible for operations and training. He has occupied the position of Director of Communication in the Ghana Armed Forces among other high profile positions.

He is liked by many because of his spirit of humility, intellect, God fearing nature and hardwork.