The Danish government has presented two Mitsubishi Pajero Sport vehicles to the Ghana Navy at Naval Headquarters in Burma Camp, Accra on Friday.
The vehicles were donated to support the development of the Ghana Navy Special Boat Squadron as part of the Danish Maritime Security Programme.
Presenting the vehicles, the Danish ambassador, Tom Nørring, said the purchase of the cars was a joint idea between the Ghana Navy and the embassy, adding that “it shows and proves that this is indeed a genuine cooperation between the two countries with a common aim even though our perspectives may differ.”
He said the idea of purchasing the cars stemmed from the huge amount of money spent on are rental when his outfit supported the basic operative course of the Ghana Navy.
“This is when the idea arose to purchase cars from Danish project money and supplement this with drivers from Ghana Navy. When you work with limited budgets it remains very important to get most out of the resources.
“I therefore encourage all of us to use this as an inspiration for the future where attention to the details remains important and we continue to spend budget wisely,” Mr Nørring said.
He urged the Navy and the Danish embassy to find ways to maximise the outputs of their inputs and continue to think and discuss ways to prudently use monies to the greater good of the course entrusted them by their governments.
Receiving the keys to the vehicles, the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Rear Admiral Issah Adam Yakubu, said the Danish Special warfare group also known as the Frogman Corps, the United States African Command and the Navy formed a tri-lateral partnership to develop the Ghana Navy Special Boat Squadron to an elite force.
He said the partnership was also to train and equip them to conduct all kinds of maritime interdictions and specialised operations.
He mentioned that developing and sustaining a specialised force in the Ghana Navy was necessary due to the increasing economic activities in the maritime domain and its accompanying dynamics, complex and asymmetric maritime security challenges.
Rear Admiral Yakubu said any collaborative effort to support the Navy to build a robust force capable of conducting all kinds of specialised operations at sea was in the right direction.
He said the trilateral partnership had made strides since its inception, adding that the donation of the vehicles to support the development of the project was just one of the numerous support the special boat squadron had received from the Danish government over the last two years.
The CNS assured that all the equipment received from the Danish government including the vehicles would be put to good use and properly maintained.
BY JEMIMA ESINAM KUATSINU
