This means that the junior ranks in the military will now serve for 30 years instead of 25 before retirement.
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This is in fulfillment of the New Patriotic Party’s 2016 campaign promise to increase the retirement age for servicemen by five years.
However, the Minority in Parliament is against the government’s intention.
Contributing to the 2019 budget debate on the security sector, the Minority’s spokesperson on Defence and the Interior, James Agalga, said the law was flawed.
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He argued that this law would rather weaken the ability and strength of Ghana’s armed forces.
“Mr Speaker, a fighting force which is aged cannot have the spirit and efficiency to defend our territorial integrity,” he stated.
He said that the maximum active period of engagement for service personnel in the United Kingdom and the United States of America is 22 and 18 years respectively for other ranks.
He argued that Ghana’s 25 years was even above the global and therefore there was no need for an extension.
But Ghana’s Defence Minister, Dominic Nitiwul, said he disagreed with Mr Agalga. In his opinion, he lacked a proper appreciation of the new law.
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[Mr Agalga] was part of the committee which looked at [the L.I.] and approved it. It has become law, so, I don’t know what he is talking about and probably misleading the people of Ghana,” he said.
However, Mr Agalga said he was not part of the committee that approves the new L.I.
