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Modern military hardware is being acquired by the government to equip the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), the Minister of Defence, Lt. Gen. Henry Smith (retd), has disclosed. Consequently, he said various visits had been undertaken abroad by delegations from the GAF to inspect ships, aircraft and other military equipment. Launching the 50th anniversary celebration of the Ghana Navy at Burma Camp in Accra on Tuesday, Lt Gen Smith said among the countries visited were Brazil, China, South Korea, Russia and Germany. He said the move was in line with the constitutional responsibility of the government to adequately equip and maintain the arm forces to perform their role of defending the country. Lt Gen Smith, therefore, appealed to the Ghana Navy to be prepared and to remain focused in discharging their part of the bargain when it became necessary in the near future. He urged them to hold onto their key principle and values and added that with perseverance and dedication, they would be able to realise their vision of "developing a highly motivated, well-trained, highly professional and well-resourced Navy capable of discharging its mission effectively and efficiently". Lt Gen Smith said the maritime safety and security challenges associated with offshore oil and gas activities, drug trafficking at sea, illegal fishing practices had brought unprecedented responsibilities to Ghana and the law enforcement agencies at sea, spearheaded by the Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Matthew Quarshie, said a month-Iong programme had been planned for the celebration of the 50th anniversary in October, this year. Speaking on the theme, "Ghana Navy at 50: Enhancing maritime security for socio-economic development", he said the present situation of the Ghana Navy was very critical because most of their equipment on board ships was defective. He said ships with three engines had been reduced to one in some cases because of the lack of spare parts. Rear Admiral Quarshie, therefore, appealed to the government to speed up the acquisition of equipment to resource the Navy.