The Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), Rear Admiral Issah Yakubu, has launched the Ghana Navy Family Endowment Fund at the Naval Headquarters. The event, which coincided with a major milestone since his assumption of office, was geared towards the fulfilment of one of the six strategic priorities outlined in his vision to improve the welfare of naval personnel.
The Endowment Fund will be used as a vehicle to provide financial support to the spouses and children of naval personnel who lose their lives in the line of official duties. The financial support will help ameliorate the hardships that most bereaved families, especially, spouses and children suffer, due to the delays and bureaucracies in processing and receiving compensations, widow’s pensions and other benefits.
The CNS stated that, personnel have sworn an oath to go wherever they are ordered even at the peril of their lives and therefore need to have contingency plans for their nuclear families. This, he said, will motivate personnel to work wholeheartedly and with full commitment.
Rear Admiral Yakubu also stated that the Endowment Fund has been operationalised retrospectively and takes effect from 1 January, 2021. Personnel would not be required to contribute towards the Fund. The Naval Headquarters will fund the seed money from its limited resources while efforts are made to seek the support of well-wishers and philanthropists for donations to shore up the Endowment Fund.
The CNS further disclosed that in addition to this Family Endowment Fund, there are other welfare programmes in the offing including an affordable mortgage/housing scheme and a mutual health insurance scheme.
In a contributory address, Mr. Henry Sunkwa-Mills, the Managing Director of InvestCorp Asset Management Limited (InvestCorp), expressed gratitude to naval personnel for their selfless acts of service to the country and the opportunity to partner the Ghana Navy on this great initiative as the Fund Manager for the Ghana Navy Family Endowment Fund.
“It is our wish and prayer that no naval staff is lost, however, should the unexpected occur, we know that this Fund will be available for your beneficiaries to provide support during the tough moments,” Mr. Sunkwa-Mills stated.
InvestCorp’s key strength in managing such funds is built on a culture of strong technical capabilities and modern relationship management. Guided by its core values of Innovation, Integrity and Leadership, InvestCorp would deliver on its mandate to the Ghana Navy Family Endowment Fund to ensure sustainability and its ability to pay out when the need arises.
In concluding the ceremony, a donation was made to the first beneficiary of the Endowment Fund, the wife and children of the late Petty Officer Class I (PO1) Budu Ekow who lost his life while performing his duty as a Diver at the Sekondi Naval Base on Tuesday 26 January 2021.
Witnessing the memorable occasion were Flag Officers Commanding Eastern and Western Naval Commands, the Chief Staff Officer at the Naval Headquarters, Directors, Officers, the Master and Command Coxswains, Ratings, the Patron and representatives of the Naval Wives Association, staff of InvestCorp, civilian employees at the Naval HQ and some family members of the late PO1 Budu Ekow.
