HISTORY OF THE KAIPTC

Since their first participation in the UN Operation in the Congo in the early 1960s to ongoing UN peace missions in Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Lebanon, thousands of men and women of the Ghana Armed Forces and Police have proudly served as United Nations and ECOWAS peacekeepers.

To build on Ghana’s four decades of experience and competence in peace support operations, the Ghana Ministry of Defence in May 1998 approved the establishment of an international peacekeeping training centre. The centre was envisaged to address not only Ghana’s needs for training to meet the changing demands of complex and multidimensional peacekeeping, but also the requirements of the West African sub-region and indeed, the continent. The Centre was named after the former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in recognition of his contributions, as a distinguished Ghanaian, to world peace and security. 

Operationalizing the Ghana Armed Forces’ dream of putting its experience, professionalism and expertise in peacekeeping to the benefit of the sub-region was a challenge, however, mainly due to constraints on the nation’s financial resources. An initial plan to locate the KAIPTC in Akoefe, near Ho, was altered in the interests of achieving cost savings and attracting donor support, with agreement to site the KAIPTC on land adjacent to the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College in Teshie.

On 2 August 2000, the former UN Secretary-General Annan commissioned and “cut the sod” for the KAIPTC at its present location. He presented to the Centre a number of plaques and mementoes he received from troop-contributing countries during his tenure as Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping, which are today on display in the hall outside the main KAIPTC auditorium.

In his address at the ceremony, the former Secretary-General said, “The United Nations is deeply grateful to the Government of Ghana and its Armed Forces and Police for their four-decade long commitment to UN peacekeeping operations around the world.  The record of service and achievement has laid the foundation for the commission of the International Peacekeeping centre that we mark today. The Ghana Armed Forces’ remarkable knowledge base, expertise and experience must be placed at the disposal of as many national armed forces – sub-regionally and continent-wide – as possible.”

“Africa needs well-trained and well-equipped peacekeepers to meet the challenge of the crises facing our continent,” the former Secretary-General continued. “Other Governments are increasingly reluctant to solve our problems for us. Instead they have sought to explore ways to help Africans to improve their peacekeeping capacity. I believe this Centre can play an important role in facilitating such assistance. I trust that representatives of donor countries here present will seize this opportunity to provide the necessary support, so that Ghana’s vast experience in peacekeeping is used to the benefit of Africa and ultimately to the cause of world peace.”

Donor countries have indeed responded generously to the Secretary-General’s call. In 2002, the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany granted an initial 1.8 million Euro towards the building cost, followed by contributions from Canada, the UK, France, Italy, Norway and the USA.

The Phase 1 construction of the KAIPTC, comprised of syndicate rooms, administrative offices, an auditorium and a Command and Staff simulation training center, was completed in the last week of September 2003. In September and October 2003, staff began to occupy the facilities in preparation for the KAIPTC’s first Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration course in November 2003.

The Centre was officially opened on 24 January 2004 under the patronage of His Excellencies the President of the Republic of Ghana, John A. Kufuor, and the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Gerhard Schröder.

The Phase 2 building program, funded by the UK, Italy and the Netherlands has also been completed. The Conference Centre, capable of hosting up to 400 delegates, was completed in May 2004, and the 70-room accommodation block, in 2005. These facilities were inaugurated by Ghana’s Minister of Defence, Dr. Kwame Addo-Kufuor, and the Minister of State for the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom, Adam Ingram on 22 September 2005. The final stage of the Phase 2 construction, a dining facility, was also completed and opened in mid-2006. 

In its short history, the KAIPTC has achieved its aim of developing as a regional centre of excellence where education, training and research on peace support operations are delivered to the highest academic and professional standards. To date, the Centre has run over 174 training courses or activities and trained over 5,304 individuals from over 338 countries.

The current Commandant, Air Vice Marshal Christian Edem Kobla Dovlo, assumed his appointment on 22 May 2009.

KAIPTC: Centre of Excellence

Our facilities include:

2 Syndicate rooms with a capacity of 30 students each.

4 Syndicate rooms with a capacity of 25 students each.

3 Conference Rooms with a capacity up to 40 participants each (Wireless working  Projectors and Computers are available).

1 Auditorium with 203 seats.

1 Command and Staff Trainer room (CAST) for more than 40 students with an own Communication-System. Here, you will be trained on a battle-field-simulation-system.

Each syndicate room is equipped with air conditioners. Wireless Network Technology and Data-Projectors, computer with TFT-Screens and white boards are available for all training facilities.

Auditorium
The Auditorium (state of the art) is able to support your presentations with DVD, VCR (NTSC, SECAM or PAL-Systems) , Computer and Video-Telephone-Conferencing-Systems.

Each session (Audio/Video) can be recorded on tape, DVD or hard disk. 24 hours Internet-Connection for trainer, students and participants is naturally.

An Interpreter-System (English/French) is also available.

Professional ICT-Support is always standby for you.