Operation Vanguard Begins Training At Bundase

Lieutenant general Akwa(CDS) and Mr David Asante Apeatu (IGP) inspecting the guard of honour on arrival at the Bundase military camp yesterday

A special training is being organized for the second batch of Operation Vanguard Task Force at Bundase Military Camp in Accra.

The joint Task Force numbering 400 is made up of highly motivated personnel from the Ghana Armed Forces and the Ghana Police Service and will be deployed to replace the first batch of personnel currently fighting activities of illegal mining in the Eastern, Ashanti and the Western Regions.

The Chief Of Defence Staff,(CDS), Lieutenant General Obed Boamah Akwa, together with the Inspector General Of Police(IGP), Mr David Asante Apeatu yesterday visited the Bundase Military Training base where the pre-operations training is ongoing to check personnel's preparedness for the task ahead.

In an address, Chief Of Defence Staff, Lieutenant General Akwa reminded personnel that the operation is a national one dear to the heart of the President of the Republic and the Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces, H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, whose initiative is to combat illegal mining activities, otherwise known as “Galamsey” in some affected communities within the three aforementioned regions.

“In fact, it is his project but the importance of Operation Vanguard is themed in the fact that we are to restore our environment, get our water bodies clear and hand it over to the next general,; and we cannot afford to fail, “adding that “This operation has got a deep relevance not only for the present but also for the future.”

He noted that selection of the second batch of personnel was carefully done to ensure that selected personnel continue the good work that was already started by the first batch.

The Chief of Defence Staff, advised personnel to take their weapon training and weapon handling very seriously and let the rules that govern their engagements be on their fingertips.

“This is going to be an operation that will put a lot of demand on junior leadership.

“The Task Force commander will be based somewhere, deputy will also be somewhere and you will be deployed out of the forest operation base and there are many instances that you have to use your professional judgment to do what is right,” he admonished personnel.

He urged them not to go out but to move as a team for their personal safety and also to strive to collaborate with the traditional rulers of the communities they would be working in.

Adding his voice, the Inspector General of Police, Mr David Asante Apeatu told personnel that government has provided sufficient resources, including food and drinks to support them to deliver.

“You must work as a team since teamwork and cooperation is very important.

The first batch has given good account of themselves and I will urge you to also work with high level of professionalism and treat the community with a high level of human rights.”

Meanwhile, the Operations Officer in charge of Operation Vanguard, Lieutenant Colonel Carl Del- Alonse told the paper that about 348 illegal miners including 20 Chinese were apprehended in the course of their operation.

Out of the number that was sent to court, 21 persons including ten Chinese have been convicted while the rest are still standing trial.

“A number of galamsey equipment were also impounded in the course of the operation but we recorded no casualty,” he added.