Expert Questions Ghana Sending Engineers Abroad While Domestic Disasters Persist
Dr. Joshua Zaato, a political scientist at the University of Ghana, has challenged the government’s choice to send Ghanaian military engineering units to Jamaica for post‑Hurricane Melissa rebuilding work while numerous communities in Ghana that were battered by natural disasters remain without repair, arguing that the specialised skills of the 48th, 49th, and 50th Engineer Regiments could be more strategically deployed to tackle pressing domestic infrastructure needs such as reconstructing broken roads, damaged bridges, and areas in the Volta Region hit by tidal waves; in remarks made on the AM Show, he suggested that officials seem more focused on highlighting Ghana’s capabilities on the international stage than applying the same resources to local reconstruction challenges, noting that there are still significant local infrastructure gaps that warrant attention, and his critique comes in the wake of Ghana’s deployment of troops abroad — a move President John Mahama described as a humanitarian responsibility rooted in historical solidarity between Ghana and Jamaica — though Dr. Zaato emphasised the importance of a balanced policy that gives equal emphasis to rebuilding needy communities within Ghana itself.
