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General News of Monday, 25 January 2016

Source: The New Crusading Guide

Mass resignations hit Army

Air Vice Marshal M. Samsen Oje, Chief of Defence Staff Air Vice Marshal M. Samsen Oje, Chief of Defence Staff

Impeccable source of information reaching the Intelligence Desk of The New Crusading GUIDE indicates that there is discontent in the Ghana Armed Forces culminating in unprecedented mass resignations in the rank and file leaving Commanders confused.

The Units badly hit are 1 Battalion, 2 Battalion, 5 Battalion (Rear), Recce Regiment, 64 Infantry Regiment, 66 Arty Regiment, 48 Engineers Regiment (Rear) and 1 Fd Workshop, which are all at the Southern Command, Kpeshie in Accra.

According to the source, the confusion in the High Command stems from the fact that they are clueless on the possible reasons for the rank and file resigning in droves. They are also worried that the Defence Ministry had turned a deaf ear to most of the complaints about conditions of service and mode of recruitment into the Armed Forces.

Although the source did not provide any documentary evidence to back another claim, he disclosed that “more than 300 soldiers have resigned since 2015, and this is a major headache to the Military High Command”.

According to the source, speculations are rife that they are resigning based on complaints of nepotism, cronyism, victimization, poor service of conditions among others.

In a communication to all the Unit Heads, the Chief of the Army Staff expressed grave concern about the resignations and, therefore, ordered an immediate investigation into the matter.

The source said further that, the COAS was worried that the mass resignation “probably points to a brewing problem or a general discontent with conditions of service within the Army.”

Although when this paper contacted Lt Commander Michael Larbi, Deputy Director in Charge of Information and Press Relations at the Directorate of Public Relations of the Ghana Armed Forces, he denied there was any “unprecedented mass resignation,” he admitted that the Army, just like any other institution, would once a while see resignations of some of their employees.

“People join out of their own volition so they can decide when to leave but there are no unprecedented resignations unless one is able to prove with facts and figures.”