Dominic Nitiwul
Minister of Defence, Dominic Nitiwul, has stated that officers take great pride in their uniforms and that members of the community they serve should respect that uniform.
His remarks come in the wake of military excesses in Ashaiman early Tuesday, following the alleged killing of a young soldier, Imoru Sheriff, by a mob at Ashaiman Taifa last Saturday.
Some soldiers are accused of using helicopters to fly over the Ashaiman neighbourhood and unleashing mayhem on some of the locals.
The Defence Minister stated during a joint press conference with Parliament’s Defence and Interior Committee members that incidents like this one occur as the nation shapes up.
“We are shaping up a country and we are going to have some of these regrettable incidents. I will still appeal to the people of Ghana to be very respectful of people in uniform. It will help all of us,” he intimated.
Kennedy Agyapong, Chairman of the Committee, had previously stated that committee members, the Defence Ministry, and the Military High Command had agreed to visit Ashaiman to ascertain the true facts of the incident.
The minister said, “I will not say anything until the committee has gone on Thursday to visit the place and ascertain for ourselves the facts.”
Mr. Nitiwul explained that one of the reasons they were not going there right away was because the investigation was still ongoing, and they did not want to jeopardise it.
“That is why we have asked our colleagues to tone down on statements so that we can all work together to ensure that this tricky situation is brought under control,” he added.
On behalf of his members, the committee’s chairman expressed condolences to the bereaved family and those who were innocently affected by the military’s beatings.
Some of the people were caught up in the frenzy, according to Mr. Agyapong, who stated, “I heard some of them were in their various homes and were brought out to be caned.”
“We all have to admit as human beings that there were excesses and therefore we sympathise with the people of Ashaiman and the Ghana Armed Forces for our young men taking the law into their hands to kill the young soldier.
“A situation like this, all we can say is that we need peace. We as members of the committee cannot inflame passion by going there to make comments that will annoy a faction,” Mr. Agyapong, who is also the NPP MP for Assin Central, posited.
He continued, “Our mission is to make sure there is peace in this country. The unfortunate incident that happened, we have all condemned it and the Minister has apologised on behalf of the military.”
“They admit that there were excesses. We are not going to make a statement on the floor of the House until we visit the scene and visit the affected victims, and listen to their side of the story,” he concluded.
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House