The Ranking Member on Parliament’s Defence and Interior Committee, Rev. John Ntim Fordjour, has called for investment in the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) rather than raising the age limit for recruitment.

Speaking on JoyNews’ The Pulse, Rev. Ntim Fordjour stressed that equipping the military with the necessary resources and logistics should be prioritised to enhance operational effectiveness, rather than altering recruitment criteria.

"If there is any call the NDC wants to bring into the Ghana Armed Forces at this point in time, it is support, it is retooling, it is resourcing and so that should be the priority we should be disguising," he said.

He added that "The Ghana Armed Forces doesn't need a review in its age limit, what they need is resources, they should make releases to them, goods and services are not been released, they dont have the kind of resources they need to run the way we want them to run, they are suffering, they need releases. That should be the calls Hon. Sam George and Hon. Defeamekpor must join in order to advocate for the Ghana Armed Forces."

His remarks follow calls by two Members of Parliament from the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sam George, MP for Ningo-Prampram and Minister for Communications, and Nelson Rockson Defeamekpor, MP for South Dayi, for the upper age limit for military recruitment to be increased from 27 to 35 years.

The MP also argued that such a call by his colleagues is needless.

• Read also: Sam George, Dafeamekpor push for upward review of age-limit for military recruits, cite global trends

Currently, the Ghana Armed Forces recruits personnel between the ages of 18 and 27.

Rev. Ntim Fordjour argued that the focus should be on strengthening the institution to meet contemporary security challenges rather than changing the age structure of its recruits.

"They also need the kind of equipment to make them formidable as we always want them to be," he emphasised.