Appointment of Former CDS Not New – NDC

Upon the publication of the names of the members of the 2020 elections campaign team of the National Democratic Congress, sections of the Media have misconstrued the role accorded a former Chief of Defence Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces, Lt. General P. A. Blay (rtd), and this statement is hereby issued to set the records straight.

This is not the first time a retired Chief of Defence Staff or other retired senior military officers have offered their services to political parties of their choice during their respective campaigns to secure the mandate of the people of Ghana to rule the country.

In fact in the first speech of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo acknowledging the victory of himself and his party in the 2016 elections, he specifically mentioned the name of retired Lt. General J. B. Danquah who was at one time the Chief of Defence Staff, and thanked him warmly for the advice he provided during the 2016 election campaign.

And just like the present arrangement in the NDC, General JB Danquah offered strategic advice to then candidate Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

That is not all. In 1998, the campaign manager of the unsuccessful campaign of the then candidate Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to secure the nomination of his party for the 2000 presidential elections was Brigadier General Nunoo Mensah, also a former Chief of Defence Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces.

The appointment of retired Lt. General Blay as Ghana’s Ambassador to the Cote d’Ivoire after he had served his term as CDS, was neither a reward for any service uniquely rendered to the President who so appointed him, nor an appointment that was unprecedented in the Fourth Republic.

Major General Adu Amanfo served during the Kufuor regime as Ghana’s Ambassador to Liberia, and is currently the country’s Ambassador to Mali.

That was an appointment that the retired General was entitled to accept in his
personal capacity first, as a retired senior officer, and second, as a citizen of Ghana.

In much the same vein, the appointment of retired Major General Richardson Baiden as a member of the Council of State during the Kufuor regime, the first time a senior military officer other than the CDS has served on the Council, was an appointment that he was entitled to accept as a citizen and a retired member of the Ghana Armed
Forces.

It is to be hoped that these few examples would afford the media information that would prevent unnecessary casting of aspersions against Ghanaian citizens exercising their rights to serve their nation in other roles for which they are suitably qualified.

ISSUED IN ACCRA FRIDAY 3RD JULY, 2020
signed……
(KAKRA ESSAMUAH)
DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS.