Squadron Leader Peter Honyenuga of the Ghana Air Force has emerged as the third-best graduating officer of Senior Course 47 at the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College (GAFCSC).

His outstanding academic performance earned him the Chief of the Air Staff’s Award during the joint graduation ceremony held on Friday, 21 August 2026, at the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College.

Senior Course 47 comprised 90 officers, made up of 64 officers from the Ghana Armed Forces and 26 officers from 14 allied African countries. The international participants were drawn from Benin, Botswana, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Malawi, Morocco, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Tanzania and Togo.

Delivering the keynote address on behalf of the Vice President of the Republic of Ghana and Chairperson of the Armed Forces Council, the Minister for Defence, Honourable Kenneth Gilbert Adjei, commended GAFCSC for its significant contribution to professional military education, leadership development and national security.

He congratulated the College on its five decades of distinguished service and contribution to leadership development, national security and professional military education in Ghana and across the African continent.

The Minister noted that the contemporary security environment confronting Ghana and the sub-region had become increasingly complex and multidimensional. He identified climate change, terrorism, transborder crime, violent extremism, illicit arms trafficking, cybercrime, illegal mining and piracy in the Gulf of Guinea among the emerging and persistent threats to regional security.

He further observed that the growing threat of violent extremism in the Sahel, coupled with climate-induced disasters, including the recent flooding in Accra, continued to test the resilience and effectiveness of Ghana’s security architecture.

Honourable Adjei commended the Government of the United Kingdom for its continued support towards the training of officers from allied countries. He also expressed appreciation to the Military High Command, the Staff College Control Board, and the entire staff of GAFCSC for their dedication and commitment to developing professional military leaders.

He congratulated the graduands on completing the course and urged them to apply the knowledge, skills and values acquired during their studies with wisdom, professionalism and dedication.

He encouraged them to remain committed to excellence in discharging their duties, stressing that their professional conduct and leadership should have a lasting, positive impact on their respective nations while contributing to regional and global peace and security.

In his report, the Commandant of GAFCSC, Major General Jackson Wonje, highlighted the importance of the practical and research-oriented components of Senior Course 47.

As part of the course programme, the graduands and faculty undertook an Africa Study Tour to Egypt, Ethiopia, Nigeria, South Africa and Zambia to research the theme: “Africa’s Defence Industrial Base: Constraints and Progress.”

Major General Wonje explained that the study tour provided the participants with an opportunity to examine defence industrial capabilities, challenges and progress across selected African countries.

He noted that the success of the Africa Study Tour underscored the importance of sustaining military-academic engagements aimed at developing adaptable, well-informed and collaborative military leaders capable of bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical solutions to African security and development challenges.