Ashaiman: Don’t embolden military lawlessness with endorsement – CDD-Ghana to Government

The Center for Democratic Development (CDD) – Ghana says the government’s silence on the military brutalities on residents of Ashaiman will embolden military officers to take matters into their own hands whenever they deem it necessary.

This comes on the back of Ghana Police Service through intelligence work have arrested six key suspects in connection of the killed 22-year-old soldier with the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) band at Sunyani in the Bono Region who was killed at Taifa, a suburb of Ashaiman.

184 residents were arrested during the military’s operation and conveyed to Burma camp but were later released.

However, the Circuit Court in Ashaiman has remanded all the six accused persons who have been arrested by the Ghana Police Service in connection with the killing of a 21-year-old soldier, Imoro Sherif at Ashaiman.

In a statement by the CDD-Ghana, they commended the efforts of the Ghana Police Service in tracking down the perpetrators of this dastardly act.

“However, in the broader spirit of exercising democratic control over the operations and conduct of the armed forces, we respectfully urge Parliament to investigate this incident; cause sanctions to be imposed on all persons implicated in this swoop at Ashaiman and ensure that justice is done.

“We also urge all persons directly affected by the conduct of the military personnel at Ashaiman to seek redress at the courts. The Executive branch must also be advised that failing to condemn and sanction the military officers implicated in this barbaric episode is a slippery slope toward a generalized state of lawlessness and anarchy,” CDD-Ghana stated.

It continued: “The government’s tacit endorsement of this incident only goes to embolden military officers to take matters into their own hands whenever they deem it necessary to do so. We must remember that under a democratically-elected civilian government, such brutal and unprofessional conduct of soldiers characteristic of military regimes in the past, cannot be encouraged and must never be repeated.”