Mr. Julius Debrah, the Chief of Staff at the Presidency, has congratulated the National College of Defence Studies for the feat it has chalked within its second year of establishment by attracting allied participants to subscribe to the course.
He gave the commendation at the matriculation ceremony of Course 2-25 of the National College of Defence Studies at Burma Camp in Accra.
Mr. Debrah said the feat chalked by the college meant it was on top of its game even at this early stage of its establishment.
“I urge you to look to the future with enthusiasm and ambition, ensuring that your vision of becoming a center of excellence is achieved within the shortest possible time,” he stated.
The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) established the National College of Defence Studies (NCDS) in March 2023 to offer Strategic Courses for senior military officers of the rank of colonels or equivalent and relevant national agencies of the same status.
The directive on the establishment of the College was under section 29(1) of the Education Regulatory Bodies Act 2020 (Act 1023).
The college is a tri-service institution that imparts skills in strategic leadership, contemporary management thought, concepts and practices, that lead to effective decision-making, enlightened leadership and efficient resource management in a knowledge-centric environment to the senior leadership of the Armed Forces and relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and international participants at the Conceptual, Directional and Functional levels.
Mr. Debrah said he had been informed that after the establishment of this College in 2023, the Ministry of Defence and the Military High Command also initiated the process for a Presidential Charter for the establishment of the National Defence University, which was granted on 19 December 2024, with the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College and Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre as the initial Colleges forming the nucleus Colleges of the National Defence University.
He said the expectation was that the Military High Command would speed up migrating NCDS and the other training institutions, such as Training and Doctrine Command and the Ghana Military Academy, to the academic control of the National Defence University to complete the process and give the National Defence University the status and responsibilities therein.
He said he was aware of the fact that the National Defence University still had some work to do and would also require some logistics support to be functional.
“This is why the issue of constructing a permanent campus for NCDS is pertinent because, as I have been told, the National Defence University will be collocated with NCDS at the yet-to-be-constructed campus,” he stated.
He said he was also aware that some preliminary work had been done to commence construction of the NCDS permanent site soon.
“I want to assure you that the Government will expedite the process to start and complete construction as quickly as practicable,” he stated.
Mr. Debrah said he had also taken note of the college’s vision and objectives, which aim to imbue the leadership, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills required to address Ghana and Africa’s complex security challenges.
The Chief of Staff reminded the matriculants of contemporary threats posed by terrorists and violent extremist groups in the West Africa sub-region and beyond.
He said the Ghana National Security Strategy document recognises these existential security challenges, which also include climate change, youth unemployment, poverty, illegal mining, and vigilantism, among others.
He said to tackle the security challenges, Ghana’s national security strategy emphasised the crucial role of enhancing regional cooperation, intelligence sharing, and capacity building.
He said it also mentioned the significance of strengthening border security, improving governance structures, and promoting social and economic development to address the root causes of these challenges.
He said it was for this reason that he considered the theme for Course 2-25, which was “SMART Governance for Sustainable Development”, apt and timely.
He said the theme provided the framework for all scholarly and research discussions for your course.
Mr. Debrah said at the end of the programme that the matriculants would have identified the problems and proffered innovative solutions for their institutions and Government.
He expected the College to equip them with the knowledge and skills to safeguard the nation’s peace, security, and development and challenged them at the end of the Course to propose a path towards the creation of a more efficient, effective, and ethical governance system that could address complex societal challenges while promoting trust between government and citizens as part of their advocacy for SMART governance.
The Chief of Staff assured the Military High Command that the Government was fully committed to ensuring that they had the resources and necessary tools to work.
This, he said, was because they were invaluable to the security, social, and economic development of the country.
By Iddi Yire, GNA.
