Ghana: Managing Defence in the Wider Security Context Course
On 20 April, UK concluded delivery of the Managing Defence in the Wider Security Context Course (MDWSC) at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC).
The MDWSC had commenced on 9 April with participants from Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, the Gambia, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo and of course Ghana. This multinational array of participants were brought together for a programme that aims to enable representatives from across the defence and security sector to contribute to the development, implementation and review of national security and defence policies.
Covering many areas of policy, strategy, management and leadership, the participants enjoyed a varied programme that sought to aid them in managing defence and security matters in their relevant countries.
The course was opened by the Deputy Defence Minister, the Hon Major Derek Oduro MP (Retired), along with the British High Commissioner to Ghana, HE Mr Iain Walker, with participants honoured to be joined at an evening reception by the Hon Minister for Defence, the Hon Deputy Minister for Defence, the Hon Adam Afriyie MP (the UK Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Ghana), both the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Parliamentary Defence and Interior Committee, the Inspector General of Police, and a wide range of other senior officers and officials.
A flagship programme amongst UK defence courses, this was the 7th consecutive year that the UK and Ghana have collaborated to deliver this regional programme. In his opening address, HE Mr Iain Walker called on participants to ‘use this opportunity for serious strategic thinking about how Defence and the Security sectors function and how they can function better’, noting that ‘it is through collective dialogue and the collaborative management of issues that we are strengthened.’
Lt Col Simon Westlake, the UK’s Defence Adviser to Ghana for the last 2 years, said:
I am very pleased this programme has returned to Ghana and to once again see the combined strengths of the UK Defence Academy, Cranfield University and KAIPTC brought together to the benefit of a wide range of countries and participants.
He noted how impressed he had been by the expertise and experience that existed amongst the participants and the manner in which they all engaged to share that experience to the benefit of all.
He closed by saying ‘the combination of UK expertise and experience with that which exists in West Africa, within the excellent facilities of KAIPTC, makes this MDWSC Course a world-class, and highly sought-after, programme’.