The chickens are home to roost! Facts and figures on the ground suggest that the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) is gradually turning into a one region ‘Brotherhood Forces’
Though the Ghanaian constitution makes it mandatory that regional and gender balance should be taken into consideration in the recruitment and appointment of public officers, DAYBREAK’s checks reveal that the Volta region alone is commanding an alarming 25% of officers in the GAF and still commands 28% of the other ranks.
Official classified documents cited by DAYBREAK reveal that out of the total number of 938 Senior Army Officers, 228 are from the Volta region alone and the region has a further 39 out of the total number of 165 Senior Navy officers. The Volta region also commands 50 out of the total number of 184 Officers in the Airforce.
In the case of the Other Ranks, the Volta region alone has 2646 soldiers out of the 9728 men in the Army whiles in the Navy it has 458 men out of the total number of 1742. The same region also has 543 out of 1726 men in the Airforce.
The data on the composition of the Ghana Armed Forces as at date are as follows:
Officers:
Ashanti Region has 115 for Army, 17 for Navy, 16 for Airforce bringing the total to 148 representing 11.50%.
Brong Ahafo has 27 for Army, 7 for Navy, 10 for Airforce bringing the total to 44 representing 3.4%
Central Region has 100 for Army, 27 for Navy, 16 for Airforce bringing the total to 143 representing 11.11%.
Eastern Region has 143 for Army, 29 for Navy, 33 for Airforce bringing the total to 205 representing 15.93%.
Greater Accra has 105 for Army, 15 for Navy, 27 for Airforce bringing the total to 147 representing 11.42%.
Northern Region has 62 for Army, 8 for Navy, 10 for Airforce bringing the total to 80 representing 6.22%.
Upper East Region has 75 for Army, 7 for Navy, 9 for Airforce bringing the total to 91 representing 7.07%.
Upper West Region has 52 for Army, 11 for Navy, 8 for Airforce bringing the total to 71 representing 5.52%.
Volta Region has 228 for Army, 39 for Navy, 50 for Airforce bringing the total to 317 representing 24.63%.
Western Region has 31 for Army, 5 for Navy, 5 for Airforce bringing the total to 41 representing 3.18%.
Other Ranks:
Ashanti Region has 1055 for Army, 136 for Navy, 174 for Airforce bringing the total to 1365 representing 10.34%.
Brong Ahafo has 518 for Army, 75 for Navy, 70 for Airforce bringing the total to 663 representing 5.02%
Central Region has 954 for Army, 256 for Navy, 194 for Airforce bringing the total to 1404 representing 10.64%.
Eastern Region has 1868 for Army, 321 for Navy, 360 for Airforce bringing the total to 2539 representing 19.32%.
Greater Accra has 619 for Army, 174 for Navy, 104 for Airforce bringing the total to 897 representing 6.80%.
Northern Region has 582 for Army, 77 for Navy, 70 for Airforce bringing the total to 729 representing 5.52%.
Upper East Region has 795 for Army, 120 for Navy, 98 for Airforce bringing the total to 1013 representing 7.68%.
Upper West Region has 380 for Army, 52 for Navy, 73 for Airforce bringing the total to 505 representing 3.83%.
Volta Region has 2646 for Army, 458 for Navy, 534 for Airforce bringing the total to 3638 representing 27.57%.
Western Region has 311 for Army, 73 for Navy, 49 for Airforce bringing the total to 433 representing 3.28%.
With this representation in the Ghana Armed Forces, the question now is “why were officers and men from the Volta Region against the policy of Regional Balance?”
Source: GhanaWeb
