Ghana - Military Spending

On 11 August 2016 the President of Ghana and Commander in Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces, HE John Dramani Mahama, said government will continue to provide the Ghana Armed Forces with equipment and logistics to carry out its constitutional mandate, which is to ensure peace and tranquility in the country. He made this statement during an all ranks durbar held at Burma Hall in Burma Camp on Thursday 11 August, 2016.

He further stated that, Ghana is considered the most peaceful country in West Africa and its waters are the safest. He therefore gave the assurance that government will continue to work very hard to sustain the level of professionalism and dedication to duty among uniformed Personnel. HE President Mahama said, since 2009, government has been retooling the services. He highlighted some of the equipment that have been purchased and they included: three new troop carriers, four MH17 Helicopters, four new Z9 Helicopters for the Air Force, six new vessels for the Navy to police Ghana’s waters among others.

There are two forms of defence procurement, core and non-core procurement. The core defence procurement mainly includes procurement of goods and services the ministry intends to use for their operational activities. This includes items for military purposes, fighter jets, munitions, armoured vehicles, ships and their associated services. The non-core defence procurement involved, procurement of stationary, fuel, foodstuff, IT equipment, infrastructural facilities and other equipment needed in fulfilling international commitments.

The ratification of Public Procurement Art, Act 663, (2003) aimed to ensure fairness and competition, in the public procurement system. the Act is applied to the security agencies including the Ghana Armed Forces under the Ministry of Defence. All purchase activities done by the Ministry of Defence must cogently adhere to the core guidelines of the Act to promote value for money for the state. Financing procurement activities either by the state; wholly and or partly are to follow guidelines enacted in the Act.

The core objectives of the Public Procurement Act, that is ensuring value for money and promoting competiveness within tendering processes are mostly overlooked when it comes to defence procurement.

Military costs have fluctuated widely since independence. During the Nkrumah era, the government maintained a large, relatively well-equipped military for reasons of national prestige. After the 1966 coup, the ruling NLC sought to improve the country's economy by lowering military spending. The NLC, however, was unwilling to reduce military manpower for fear of alienating the armed forces; instead, it saved money by canceling plans to purchase new equipment. To update its military inventory, Ghana strengthened links with nations such as Britain, Canada, and the United States, all of which represented possible sources of military assistance. Since the downfall of Nkrumah, the level of Ghana's military spending has fluctuated widely, partly because of several major currency devaluations. According to the World Bank, however, Ghana's military spending has declined overall. In 1972 Ghana earmarked about 7.9 percent of total expenditures for defense, a figure that by 1989 was down to 3.2 percent. Since then, defense expenditures have declined even further. In 1992, Ghana allocated about US$105 million for the armed forces, or less than 2 percent of total budgetary expenditures. According to the World Bank, military expenditures data from SIPRI are derived from the NATO definition, which includes all current and capital expenditures on the armed forces, including peacekeeping forces; defense ministries and other government agencies engaged in defense projects; paramilitary forces, if these are judged to be trained and equipped for military operations; and military space activities. Such expenditures include military and civil personnel, including retirement pensions of military personnel and social services for personnel; operation and maintenance; procurement; military research and development; and military aid (in the military expenditures of the donor country).

Excluded are civil defense and current expenditures for previous military activities, such as for veterans' benefits, demobilization, conversion, and destruction of weapons. This definition cannot be applied for all countries, however, since that would require much more detailed information than is available about what is included in military budgets and off-budget military expenditure items. (For example, military budgets might or might not cover civil defense, reserves and auxiliary forces, police and paramilitary forces, dual-purpose forces such as military and civilian police, military grants in kind, pensions for military personnel, and social security contributions paid by one part of government to another.)

NATO defines defense expenditure as payments made by a national government specifically to meet the needs of its armed forces or those of Allies. A major component of defense expenditure is payments on Armed Forces financed within the Ministry of Defense (MoD) budget. Armed Forces include Land, Maritime and Air forces as well as Joint formations such as Administration and Command, Special Operations Forces, Medical Service, Logistic Command etc. In view of the differences between the NATO and national definitions, the figures shown may diverge considerably from those which are quoted by national authorities or given in national budgets.

They might also include "Other Forces" like Ministry of Interior troops, border guards, national police forces, customs, gendarmerie, carabinierie, coast guards etc. In such cases, expenditure should be included only in proportion to the forces that are trained in military tactics, are equipped as a military force, can operate under direct military authority in deployed operations, and can, realistically, be deployed outside national territory in support of a military force. Also, expenditure on Other Forces financed through the budgets of ministries other than MoD should be included in defense expenditure.

Pension payments made directly by the government to retired military and civilian employees of military departments should be included regardless of whether these payments are made from the budget of the MoD or other ministries. Expenditures for peacekeeping and humanitarian operations (paid by MoD or other ministries), the destruction of weapons, equipment and ammunition, and the costs associated with inspection and control of equipment destruction are included in defense expenditures.

Research and development (R&D) costs are to be included in defense expenditures. R&D costs should also include those for projects that do not successfully lead to production of equipment. Expenditure for the military component of mixed civilian-military activities is included, but only when this military component can be specifically accounted for or estimated. Financial assistance by one Allied country to another, specifically to support the defense effort of the recipient, should be included in the defense expenditure of the donor country and not in the defense expenditure of the receiving country. War damage payments and spending on civil defense are both excluded from the NATO definition of defense expenditure.