Colonel John Bosco Emmanuel Guyiri of the Ghana Armed Forces takes over from a career fire officer, Brown Gaisie who, according to the release signed by Secretary to the President, J.K. Bebaako-Mensah, goes back to his former position of Deputy Chief Fire Officer.
Mr. Gaisie was appointed acting Chief Fire Officer last year following the interdiction of some top personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS).
Colonel Guyiri, a regular officer, has held several appointments in the Armed Forces including the Commanding Officer, 5 Bn, Commanding Officer, GHANBATT 6, UNAMSIL, Commanding Officer GHANBATT 62, UNIFIL, and Director, Administration, Army Headquarters.
Until the commencement of his new appointment from 15th March 2011, he is the Deputy Director-General, Joint Operations, at the Ghana Armed Forces Headquarters.
Many expected that Mr Gaisie would win the favour of the President, given his wealth of experience in fire fighting. In his brief stint as acting Chief Fire Officer, he introduced a number of measures to reduce the incidence of fire outbreaks in the country including undertaking education programmes for people in vulnerable areas.
The tendency to appoint serving military officers to head quasi-military establishments such as the Fire Service, Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) and the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) is becoming a feature of the Mills government.
A cross-section of personnel in the affected establishments considers the move as a statement of mistrust, by the President, in their respective leaderships to run their own affairs.
This is not the first time that the GNFS is being headed by a serving military officer. Brig Addah, now retired, once served as the Chief Fire Officer. With Col Guyiri now taking over, it seems firemen in the country are destined to be headed by officers from the colours.
The GIS is headed by a Superior Police Officer, DCOP Peter Wiredu, following the compulsory retirement of the previous head, Elizabeth Adjei.
CEPS on the other hand has Maj. Gen. Carl Modey in charge, an appointment which did not find favour with most personnel.
Someone quipped in reaction to soldiers heading other institutions as not in tune with the call by President Obama during his visit to Ghana that “we should build strong institutions.”
On October 24, last year, William Brown-Acquaye, the Chief Fire Officer, and two of his deputies, Stephen Kandure and Cornelius Woedi, were interdicted for alleged malfeasance in the procurement of equipment for the Service.
The interdiction paved the way for the appointment of Mr. Brown Gaisie as the acting Chief Fire Officer, a position he has held until the latest directive from the Commander-In-Chief.
Also nominated for District Chief Executives by President Mills are Mavis Ama Frimpong for Birim North and Ibrahim Issaka, Kwahu North.
Continue reading here: