Soldiers entertain public at independence anniversary

The Third Battalion (3BN) of Infantry of the Ghana Army stationed at Sunyani on Friday opened the gates to its Liberation barracks to the general public as part of activities marking the 46th Independence anniversary.

Thousands of people including schoolchildren flocked there for the fun and of course the opportunity to have an insight into military life.

Such was the level of anxiety and enthusiasm of especially the schoolchildren at the occasion dubbed "Open Day", that soldiers tasked to ensure the orderly conduct of the visitors had a hectic time.

Major Zakari Iddi, second-in-command of the battalion and Warrant Officer Class One David Bonsrah, Unit Regimental Sergeant-Major (RSM) took Mr Yaw Adjei-Duffuor, deputy Brong Ahafo Regional Minister and some officials of he Regional Coordinating Council round some selected places at the barracks.

At the Communication centre, an old album with photographs depicting the history of Ghana's military, dating back to the Gold Coast period to date was on display.

At the Physical Education Unit, soldiers entertained the visitors with simulated scenes at battle fields, such as crossing a river via a rope like a monkey, flying high springs, a camouflage battle field where soldiers fire to distract enemy attention and conducting searches on dead enemies for vital documents, if any.

They also excited the public with a demonstration of the usage of an 81-millimetre Spanish-made mortar weapon which, Warrant Officer Class One Wilberforce Ameyaw Manu, who led the demonstration said, was introduced to Ghana Armed Forces in 1977.

The weapon is used for attack and defence purposes during war and is considered to be the heaviest in the Armed Forces, W/O Manu added.

At the Machine Gun III stand, Mr Adjei-Duffour and some members of his entourage were given the chance to operate the weapon, which, the soldiers said has a shooting capacity of 1300 rounds within a minute and has the speed of 820 metres per second.

On display at the small armoury stand were pistols, Russian-made AK 47 rifles manufactured after the Second World War and Swedish-made King Carl Gustav gun, named after a popular leader of Sweden.

The Armoury vehicle stand had an assembly of Armoured Personnel Car (APC), which has a capacity for 12 men and an Armoured Fighting Car (AFC).

The deputy Regional Minister and his entourage, newsmen and some members of the public were later given a five-minute ride on the Armoured vehicles named after Captain Thomas Sankara, former military Head of State of Burkina Faso and Nana Boa Amponsem, a one-time powerful king of Denkyira in the Central Region.

Major Iddi said the open day was principally to help allay the fears of civilians about the military, saying soldiers must be considered "as our own brothers and sisters".

"The only difference is that soldiers wear military uniform while civilians put on their civilian attire.

"We are the same people and you need not to fear us since we are in military uniform as professional soldiers to defend the State and of course you, the citizenry in time of war", Major Iddi added.

Mr Adjei-Duffour commended the soldiers for their brilliant performance and described the exercise as "exciting, entertaining and educative".

Mrs Akua Debrah, acting Brong-Ahafo Regional Director of the Ghana Education Service (GES) was not happy about the non-participation of of female soldiers in the exercise and called on the authorities to make it possible to involve them in future exercises.