Ghana & US Naval Operations in Africa

- Africa Partnership Station (APS)

Washington, DC Tuesday January, 2009 (AMIP News) - Vice Admiral Harry B. Harris, Jr. Deputy Commander U.S. Naval Forces Africa held a media round table at the Washington Foreign Press Center to highlight the activities of the US led Africa Partnership Station, the just ended deployments in Ghana and four other western Africa countries and an ongoing one in Eastern Africa.

In his opening remarks Vice Admiral Harris introduced the mission of the Africa Partnership Station (APS) which are maritime security and safety, international military partnerships and a long term commitment to Africa's maritime capacity development through training and other collaborative activities. He explained that all three were important for the prosperity and well being of any nation. "APS has no other agenda other than responding to specific capacity building requests from African nations" he reiterated, to debunk speculations that the US led program may be imposing US ideology on African nations. "APS focuses on building cooperative partnerships with regional maritime services in order to achieve common international goals of stability and security." With African nations losing billions of dollars each year to illegal fishing, piracy and human trafficking, he stressed the importance of APS's mission in these times of known piracy and human trafficking acts in Africa and elsewhere.

Ghana has already benefited from the African Partnership Station and is expected to benefit again in 2010 when USS Gaston Hall returns to Ghana and other West African nations. The Dutch amphibious ship HNLMS Johan de Witt (L 801) was in Ghana last October for a five-day port visit. During this visit, the APS team conducted exercises both afloat and ashore and continued at-sea training with Ghanaian maritime professionals. Johan De Witt, a Royal Dutch Naval vessel, was the first European-led APS platform augmented by staff from Belgium, Portugal and the United States.

Royal Dutch Navy Capt. Ben Bekkering, commanding officer of Johan de Witt is quoted as saying: "Ghana is a key player in the APS program and it is therefore only logical that we spend ample time in her coastal waters. After training maritime professionals from Ghana onboard for the last three weeks, I now look forward to expanding that interaction. We intend to operate with the Ghanaian Navy, provide hydrographic support, and in addition will disembark donations from the Netherlands for various organizations in Ghana."

Ghana Navy Lt. Joseph Bazinyin Tenzii also remarked "I have enjoyed being onboard Johan de Witt. The crew was very helpful and my fellow Sailors and I have learned a lot.In Ghana, we have small boats that are used for patrolling our waters. We need experienced Sailors operating these boats. With the skills I have learned during this APS deployment, I can now pass these valuable skills on to my Sailors to make us a better team."

Looking into 2010 and beyond Vice Admiral Harris was optimistic that APS would receive more human, technical and logistical support from international partners. Since its establishment in 2006 at the invitation of the Benin government, APS has deployed 15 ships and recorded a good number of successes including a recent ship recapture incident in the Benin waters. The African Partnership Station (APS) is a naval component of the US Africa Command (AFRICOM)

F. Nnoma-Addison (AMIP News -Washington, DC Bureau Chief)