EQUIPPING THE GHANA NAVY (NOV 2, 2009)

THE realities of our time dictate that the Ghana Navy is properly resourced to deliver on its mandate to protect the country against aggression in any form.
Today, the Navy’s function of protecting the country against any form of military threat may no longer be considered strategic because Ghana is not at war. However, the threat to Ghana’s territorial waters is now more daunting than ever before in the history of the country.
The threat of the illegal drug trade that has engulfed the West African sub-region and the sophistication in cross- border crimes demand that we put our act together.
Also, the threat posed by pair trawling, especially by foreign-owned vessels, that sweep every tiny fish imaginable, thereby depriving our fishermen of their livelihood, is even more pronounced and can be likened to economic sabotage and territorial aggression against which the country should use all its resources to fight.
Furthermore, the recent oil find in our waters calls for extra vigilance from personnel of the Ghana Navy to protect this important natural resource that all Ghanaians are looking up to to change our fortunes.
If these reasons are anything to go by, then the country cannot hide behind resource unavailability to deny the Navy the requisite resources to do its work in a more efficient and professional manner.
The Daily Graphic welcomes the pledge by the Vice-President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, at the 50th anniversary parade of the Ghana Navy in Sekondi last Friday that the government would, within the constraints of the economy and other competing national development needs, ensure that the Navy was equipped within the requisite resources to effectively and efficiently perform its assigned role.
We need to devote more resources to the activities of the Ghana Navy because commercial oil drilling is expected to begin some time next year and we anticipate that these logistics will be required to ward off pirates.
The professionalism of the Ghana Navy will not be enhanced solely by the provision of logistics. The conditions of service of personnel also require attention.
The Daily Graphic lauds the decision by the government to provide accommodation for personnel of the Ghana Navy and we appeal to the government to find resources, including public-private partnership, to undertake this project, and in good time too, to motivate the personnel to discharge their duties more professionally.
Should we fail to tackle the problems of the Navy’s lack of logistics head on and continue to sing the same old song of “resource-scare”, we will be counting our losses, instead of our blessings, with the oil find.
The Daily Graphic believes that we have useful lessons to draw from the experiences of other countries during the preparatory period for the oil boom.
Some oil producers and exporters in Africa did not prepare adequately for the oil find and are, even today, grappling with challenges that threaten the stability of their countries.
We do not need to re-invent the wheel, but benefits from oil will accrue to us if we position all the institutions of state, including the Ghana Navy, to play their roles effectively.
The Daily Graphic salutes the Ghana Navy on the celebration of its Golden Jubilee and urges the government to do all within its mandate to give the Navy a fitting birthday gift.