The Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College (GAFCSC) held a graduation ceremony for students of Junior Staff Course 73 at Teshie in Accra on Friday, June 26, 2020.

The students numbering fifty-two comprised of forty-four officers drawn from the Ghana Armed Forces, eight from Nigeria and one from Liberia Armed Forces respectively.

The guest of honour for the occasion was Commodore Osei Sarfo (Rtd), a former Deputy Commandant of GAFCSC and a one-time Defence Attaché to Cote D’Ivoire.

In his address he stated that the nineteen-week course which started on 7 February 2020 was designed to offer the opportunity for students to broaden their professional and general outlook on matters of both national and international dimensions.

Commodore Osei Sarfo (Rtd) further stated the stress and anxiety that comes with the Coronavirus pandemic had a toll on the students; however, the students focused on their studies and did not relent. He was optimistic that the knowledge acquired will put graduands in a better position to appreciate and effectively manage the multidimensional challenges that they were bound to face in their various fields.

According to him, the COVID-19 and its devastating effect requires the collaborative efforts of ministries, metropolitan and municipal assemblies, intelligent agencies, security agencies, environmentalists and traditional authorities.

The guest of honour reminded the graduands of current and emerging trends such as transnational organized crime, money laundering, cybercrime and terrorism which seem to have been overshadowed by COVID-19. He stated that the threats required a multi-faceted approach as no single institution could successfully handle all.

Commodore Osei Sarfo (Rtd) congratulated the graduands and commended the leadership of the institution for the success of the course.

The Assistant Commandant (ASCOM) in charge of the Juniors Division, Brig Gen Mike Akpatsu, said he was excited that all the students of JSC 73 successfully met the required standards and were therefore qualified to be awarded the “Junior Staff Course” (JSC) qualification. The Commandant of GAFCSC, Rear Admiral Moses Beick-Baffour conferred the ‘jsc’ qualification symbol on the graduands and presented them with certificates.

The ultimate prize went to Maj R Owusu-Ababio who was adjudged the overall best student of the course. The 2nd best student award went to Maj HJ Bavoke while the 3rd best student award went to Maj PNL Anang. The best allied security services award went to DIO II BA Sadiq form the Nigeria Defence Intelligence.

Lt (NN) FG Oni from the Nigeria Armed Forces won best-allied student.

Students who excelled in academia were awarded with prizes. In the Assistant Commandant’s Paper Prize, Maj R Adonteng, Lt Cdr D Borkey and Sqn Ldr D Badu-Yeboah were awarded with the 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes respectively.

Present at the ceremony were; the Deputy Commandant, Brig Gen Adu, the incoming Assistant Commandant, Junior Division, Brig Gen Dawohoso, Directors from GAF, and some Senior Officers.