DAYBREAK’s intelligence has gathered that as part of the cleansing process going on in the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), the only two (2) Army Generals that the Brong Ahafo Region has produced since independence have been retired by the Mills/Mahama administration.
The two Brigadier Generals are John Kwaku Forkuo (GH/1514) and Jo-Sylvester Kwame Nkrumah (GH/1432).
According to sources, JK Forkuo was the first to start his terminal leave in May 2011 and will be placed on the ‘Retired List’ in early January 2012 with JS Nkrumah released on the authority of a Military Secretary Publication GHQ/18045/MS dated 13 May 2011.
According to the publication, “JS Nkrumah is to retire from the Armed Forces with effect from 11 February 2012. He will be “Honorably Released” under Item 5(b) (i) of the Table to Article 15.01 of Reference ‘A’.
“His total period of reckonable service will be 41 years 3 months and 18 days with the officer entitled to Retired Pay under Articles 206.31, 206.32, 206.38 of Reference B and 247 days terminal leave commencing 9 June 2011.
“He will be placed on the Retired List from 11 February 2012 in accordance with Article 15.20(2) of Reference A”.
With 6 March and 10 March 1951 as their birth dates respectively, it means the two have reached the retiring ages of officers holding permanent commissions at 60 years for Brigadier Generals but observers are surprised at the alacrity with which the only two Generals from the Brong Ahafo have been released whereas those from the ‘World Bank’ of the ruling party who have exceeded their compulsory retiring ages are still in the service occupying juicy appointments.
A Warrant Officer Class One (1) who pleaded anonymity wondered why the two Generals were going home stating that the ‘World Bank’ of the ruling party has over fourteen (14) Generals in the Armed Forces as at date has several officers of the ranks of General, Colonel and Lieutenant Colonel who are “over-aged but have been retained with no complaints from any quarter”.
“If this is not selective justice then what is this? Is our President ‘Father For All’? he quizzed.
With the uneven number of Generals in the Ghana Armed Forces, others argued that the two should be given ‘one year’ as done for other officers.
Our investigations revealed that Commodore F Daley born on 15/0647 (64 years), Brigadier General PK Opoku with 23/05/50 (61 years) as his date of birth, Air Commodore Gamadeku with 05/04/51 (61 years) as his date of birth and Brigadier General HWK Agbenuzah with 03/01/51 (60 years) are still in the service.
Also, we gather that the release of the two Generals from the Ghana Armed Forces is to pave way for more “Kokofu Promotions” to be published by the end of this month as the appointments held by the two are to be filled by Colonels.
Readers would recall that this paper published in its Tuesday 8th March 2011 edition that 19 Army officers were to be sacked. The names of officers mentioned included the two Generals.
Investigations have shown that the publication of Tuesday 8th March 2011 was perfectly true and Military Authorities have decided to release the affected officers in piecemeal as a strategy to avoid detection.
Among the officers who have so far been released since the publication are: Brigadier General Jo-Sylvester Kwame Nkrumah, Brigadier General John Kwaku Forkuo, Brigadier General George Kofi Adjei, Air Commodore Rexford George Mensah Acquah, Colonel Samuel Agyekum Yamoah, Colonel Michael Dua-Awere Boampong, Colonel Emmanuel Akohene Mensah and Group Captain Augustine Richard Nkoah.
Again, amongst the Colonels, a selected few are going home with Colonel FK Kwashie- 01/05/48 (63 years), Colonel PK Senchim-14/11/53 (almost 58 years), Group Captain EE Ahadome-11/02/53 (58 years) and Captain (GN) MK Lovi-04/03/53 (58 years) still in the service.