The Military High Command says it is reclaiming all military lands purportedly sold out to private developers to be used for the good of the military establishment.
It has, therefore, directed individuals, groups and firms who claim to have bought those lands to look for those they paid money to and demand their money back.
Among those military properties are the old Legion Village, near the Opeibea House, the official residence of the Chief of the Defence Staff at North Ridge, lands near the Ghana Water Company Limited treatment plant at Okponglo and large tracts of land on the Independence Avenue in Accra.
Other prime military lands are in Navrongo in the Upper East Region, Wa in the Upper East Region and Kumasi in the Ashanti Region.
In line with that military action, work has begun on the Legion Village land near the Opeibea House on the Airport-37 Military Hospital road to convert that property into a 15-storey complex for the Veterans Association of Ghana (VAG), as well as a 250-room hotel to generate revenue for the military.
The $40 million project, according to a military source, was a joint initiative between the Ministry of Defence and the VAG to generate income for the ministry and the veterans.
It warned that the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) would not sit down for individuals to take advantage of their lands for selfish gains and commercial purposes.
It invited the goodwill and co-operation of people in business to approach the military leadership to discuss proposals for joint venture development of the other prime lands, describing them as suitable for projects such as blocks of flats, hostels, shopping malls, filling stations, office blocks and other multi-purpose buildings.
Cutting the sod for work to commence, the Minister of Defence, Lt Gen J. H. Smith, said the site used to be the habitation of patriotic, gallant and physically challenged war veterans who fought in the Second World War.
He said, “The government has endeavoured to maintain an armed force that is capable of maintaining peace and stability in our dear country,” he said, adding that serious efforts were being made by the government to provide the resources needed to further improve the existing infrastructure of the GAF.
He said apart from its core responsibility to maintain an efficient, regular GAF, the government had not neglected its duty of taking good care of the retired personnel.
He said in spite of its limited resources, Ghana stood as one distinct country in Africa which had continued to take care of the needs of its war veterans.
The minister said a draft of the VAG Bill which had received Cabinet approval was currently at the Attorney-General’s Department and would be put before Parliament for approval soon.
Lt Gen Smith said lands were acquired by the then colonial government in order to put up Legion villages to house maimed and other physically challenged war veterans but after years of neglect and natural fading out of the occupants, some of those villages crumbled.
He said it was the hope of the ministry that in the very near future the VAG would be in a position to stand on its own, independent of governmental and public support.
He, therefore, appealed to corporate institutions, non-governmental and governmental organisations and the general public to contribute towards improving the living conditions of the veterans.
He said what those partners would be doing would be to enhance the facilities of the new Legion Village site at Amasaman to a high standard befitting the status of the war heroes.
Lt Gen Smith said negotiations were also far advanced for the development of the VAG lands at the Independence Avenue, the present location of the Retired Officers Club House.
He said the military was considering other options where the services of retired military personnel would be engaged in ventures in which the expertise of the VAG would be required, including a Defence Industrial Complex, the leasing of the GAF warehouse at the Tema Port to interested partners, among others.
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