A seven-member Board for the Defence Industries Holding Company (DIHOC) of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) was on Wednesday inaugurated in Accra.

Mr Dominic Nitiwul, Minister of Defence (MOD), who swore-in the members, urged them to contribute to the development of DIHOC and roll-out more factories.

The Minister said DIHOC should attract investors to partner them to establish factories, such as garment, footwear, pharmaceutical, agro-processing/cattle rearing, printing and publishing, electrical and electronic engineering, automobile, civil engineering and ship building as well as ammunition and explosive ordinance devices.

Giving the background, Mr Nitiwul said DIHOC was established as a limited liability company incorporated under the Company Act of 1963 (ACT 179) in November, 2010.

The objective of DIHOC was to be in charge of development of industrial projects to be undertaken by the GAF, he noted.

Mr Nitiwul explained that DIHOC was mandated to advise the Minister on industrial development projects undertaken by GAF as well as the efficient and effective management of socio-economic and human security in Ghana.

It would also carry out commercial production of goods and services in accordance with the best management practices to ensure factories under DIHOC made profit, the Minister added.

Another mandate, Mr Nitiwul said, was to liaise with civil authority to employ the youth and by so doing, it would contribute to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s agenda of “creating prosperity and equal opportunity for all”.

He expressed dissatisfaction that DIHOC had not delivered as expected and said, it had only a shoe factory to its credit, which had produced more than 30,000 pairs of boots combat and shoes for GAF, saying that, it is supposed to produce 15,000 pairs of boot combat for GAF and 5,000 boots for the Navy.

Mr Nitiwul disclosed that there had been several discussions with prospective investors to partner DIHOC.

Major Derek Oduro (Rtd), the Deputy Minister of Defence is the Chair for the Board whilst, Dr Evans A. Dzikum, the Chief Director, MOD, is the secretary.

The rest are Lieutenant General Obed Akwa, Chief of Defence Staff, Brigadier General Joseph Osei Wusu, Director General Defence Industries, General Headquarters, Brigadier General M.K. Gyekye Asante, Director General-Legal Services, General Headquarters, Colonel Emmanuel T. Darquah (RTD), Director of Veterans Affairs and Mr Samuel Kwesi Anomah, business executive from the private sector.

Mr Oduro expressed worry that the GAF purchased everything when they were capable of producing them and urged the GAF to join the national effort to industrialise the country just as Egypt, Germany and Ukraine did.

He said the Board would justify the confidence reposed in them by the President and the Ministry, by doing well to bring up the shoe factory in Kumasi to an acceptable level.

The DIHOC hinted that DIHOC would soon come-up with a garment factory to produce uniforms for not only the security services but nurses as well as school uniforms for pupils at the Basic level and other civil hardware, adding that, they would partner both local and international investors to put-up the industries.