Military Training For National Service Personnel: Is Ghana Going To War With North Korea?

During the Public Account Committee sitting, the Minister of Defence, Dominic Nitiwul revealed that plans are underway for national service personnel to undergo a six months military training as part of the national service scheme.

The Minister added that the military conscription begins for 10,000 national service personnel next year with the hope of gradually expanding the numbers until all national service personnel can be absorbed.

As usual, fanatics of the NPP have begun defending the announcement made by the Minister. But the legitimacy of an action is not denoted by the amount of twisted defence it is given. 

The usefulness of a deed is actually in its rightness. And to determine rightness, one would have to know his or her priorities, because there are many right things that could be done, yet only a few are appropriate.

For the Minister of Defence in current day Ghana to suggest that mandatory military training is necessity is very disheartening. Quite clearly, the top man doesn’t understand his priorities-and that of his nation. 

The last thing a country bedevilled with problems all over should think of is a military jamboree. 

Why am I even surprised? The exercise would enable top government officials to present bloated budgets and siphon a substantial amount into their personal pockets.

It may be constitutional for national service personnel to undergo a six months military training, but don’t we have sanitation laws too? Don’t we have laws on access to education, and healthcare? Which laws don’t we have?

Ghana is not going to war with North Korea, and we don’t need to spend millions (possibly billions) of dollars-as observed in huge amounts spent by other countries in running similar systems- on an unnecessary endeavour, except it is for the purposes of create, loot, and share.