My Vision Is To Make VAG Commercially Viable - Lt. Gen Smith

The Minister for Defence, Lt Gen J.H. Smith, has stated that his vision for the Veterans Association of Ghana (VAG) is to make it a commercially viable organisation that will be capable of taking care of some of its welfare programmes in future.

To this end he said VAG was to enter into partnership with individuals or organisations to undertake commercial ventures that would profit it.

The Defence Minister stated this when he was welcoming a delegation led by the Chairman of VAG, Commodore Steve Obimpeh, to the ministry.

The delegation was at the ministry to introduce Lt Col Chris Warren, the Financial Controller of the Royal Commonwealth Ex- Service League (RCEL) of the UK, who is in the country for a three-day official duty.

Lt Gen Smith commended the Royal Commonwealth Ex-Service League for its continued support for VAG at the end of the First and Second World wars when the British administration then established the Ghana Legion to see to the welfare needs of veterans.

The minister lauded the intention of the colonial administration. He said over the years the needs of the veterans had more than quadrupled and this had necessitated a change in the status of the association through Parliament.

He said the expected change will come soon to compel all retired personnel to be part of the administration and also mandate the state to take full responsibility for the running of the affairs of the veterans.

Gen Smith said in view of the increasing demand of the veterans and the toll it had on national budget, his ministry was seriously considering turning most of its assets, mostly landed properties bequeathed to it by the Colonial Administration, into edifices for commercial renting.

The minister said this was a sure way of generating money to take on the extra budget request from VAG for medication, administration and welfare requirements for its programmes.

For a start, he disclosed that the former Accra Legion land on the Airport Road was being developed into high-profile offices and a shopping mall. Other identified and yet-to-be-identified VAG lands throughout the country would come under scrutiny for development.

Lt Col Chris Warren for his part extended felicitations from the Duke of Edinburgh, who is the Grand President of the Royal Commonwealth Ex-Service League, to the minister and the Veterans Association of Ghana. Lt Col Warren said he was greatly impressed with what he had seen of VAG.

He intimated that Gp Capt A.Q. Jones-Mensah, the Executive Director, and the staff of the VAG Secretariat had taken him on a tour of the Amasaman Village which houses some sick and disabled veterans to see the facilities available there.

Lt Col Warren said his visit was a routine one which he undertook occasionally to Commonwealth countries to assess the progress of work, projects being undertaken to better the welfare needs of the veterans and welfare programmes of member countries.

He said he had promised to give financial assistance to VAG on behalf of RCEL to finish its ongoing recreational pavilion, a water project and some welfare administrative progammes.

Lt Col Warren was full of praise for the ministry and the VAG headquarters for the construction of the Amasaman village which he said did not exist during his last visit. He expressed the hope to see VAG representation at next year's RCEL biannual conference in Malta.

The chairman of VAG, Commondore Obimpeh, on behalf of the association thanked Lt Col Chris Warren for his visit and expressed the hope that on his recommendations the promises of RCEL would be fulfilled.

Lt Col Chris Warren has since left for the UK through Nigeria and Sierra Leone.