By Benjamin Akoto, GNA
Accra, Oct. 6, GNA –Mr Eric Kwakye Darfour, the Eastern Regional Minister, has called for adequate resources for the Achiase Jungle Warfare School to enable them discharge their duties effectively.
He said the school has contributed to the training and upgrading of many soldiers and other personnel in the country and many countries still send their teams of soldiers for training in jungle warfare at the school.
He said this when he paid a familiarization visit to ascertain the activities ,challenges and the opportunities at the Seth Anthony Jungle Warfare School at Akim Achiase in the Eastern Region.
Mr Darfour said as a country we need to sustain the work of the military, because it is a well-structured institution that trains and instils discipline in the society.
»I’m going to sit down with your sector minister and see how we can support you so that you will be able to do more for the society and the country », he assured the commander of the School.
He commended the school for building a strong collaboration with the communities around their enclave saying both the military and the citizenry needed to complement the roles of each other.
The idea of establishing the warfare school to train personnel of the regular forces in jungle warfare as well as take part in an integrated multinational force operation came up in the early 1970’s ,when some officers were sent out to be trained in the British Jungle Warfare School in Malaysia.
As a result the Ministry of Defence decided to establish a jungle warfare school in 1974. The school was first located at Obenemase at an old gold mining town near, Kumasi.
In 1975 the school was relocated to Accra to give way for the reactivation of the Obenemase gold mines, however, Accra was not an ideal location for jungle training.
Hence, in 1976 the school was brought to its present location at Achaise, under the direct control of the army headquarters and was officially opened on 2nd November 1976.
In June 1991, the school’s was named after Seth Anthony, the first African and a Ghanaian to receive the United Kingdom King’s Commission as an Officer.
Lieutenant Colonel Cephas Tettey Broni, the Commanding Officer at the Jungle Warfare School, said the role played by the school since its establishment has helped the Ghana Armed Forces to meet its jungle training needs as well as foster civil and military cooperation.
He said most of the courses run by the school complement the courses conducted at the Ghana Military Academy and the Army Combat Training School.
»This school is a special school. We train people who are in the service who come for specialization or whiles they are training they are brought here to be introduced to how it is to be in the jungle » he explained.
Lieutenant Colonel Broni said the institution is faced with challenges in the areas of logistics, which has been hindering their activities as well as infrastructure.
He called for the construction of more concrete buildings to help reduce the cost of maintaining the wooden structures.
As part of the visit the Minister was taken to the schools medical post, inspected the dormitories, Booby Trap Laboratory, where the team was taken through various traps such as leg breaker, ankle trapper, tiger path and fly to hell.
Other places visited include, an improvised survival stand, where the team was thought how to survive on plants and other creatures in the forest.
EAQ/PDC
