Desist from brutalising civil populace- Military cautioned

Shai (G/R), July 5, GNA - Brigadier General Paul Opoku, Support Services Commander of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) has warned service personnel to desist from brutalising civilians or face the law. "The Military High Command has been worried of late because of the tendency of service personnel to confront members of the civil populace in a violent manner in matters which could have been settled through dialogue", he said.

Brig. Gen. Opoku was addressing a passing out parade of 398 recruits at the Army Recruit Training School at Shai Hills near Accra. The recruits, including 110 women had undergone 22 weeks of basic training. They were taken through lessons in drill, weapon handling and marksmanship, minor tactics and field craft. They were also taught military law and history, first aid and map reading, leadership skills and also underwent training in both conventional and jungle warfare.

Brig. Gen. Opoku who was the reviewing officer for the parade, said incidents of servicemen brutalising the citizenry in recent times were being investigated, adding that anyone found culpable would face full service discipline.

He however cautioned members of the public not to contract the services of military personnel towards the execution of duties other than that prescribed by law, saying, "They have not received lessons in landguard duties or one-man security operations. The Commander said the rising tendency of the civil populace to fall on individual members of the armed forces for security duties had raised a lot of concerns for the High Command. He said the practice apart from being illegal placed the GAF in bad light and destroyed, rather than enhanced its reputation and development.

"Whilst the armed forces will strive to live up to its mission of safeguarding the security of the State, it behoves the citizenry to distance itself from acts that will hinder the force's development", he said.

Brig. Gen. Opoku entreated the recruits to, at all times abide by all established laws of the country, including those of the armed forces.

"It is your duty to support and defend the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana. Therefore, you must distance yourselves from, and immediately report all actions that do not aim at supporting and defending the primary law of the State".

"You must therefore, always stand firm and remain alert in order to live up to your calling, whether by day or by night, rain or shine", he told the smartly turned out recruits.

He also implored the recruits to join in the fight against the trade and use of narcotics drugs because Ghana had lately been bedevilled with attempts by some "nation wreckers" to use the country as a point for trade, transiting and use of narcotics, especially cocaine. "We are a staunch partner in the fight against the traffickers and I implore you to join us to flush them out of our system".

Awards were presented to recruits who excelled in various disciplines. The overall best recruit award went to Private Belinda Lasidji, whilst Private Rafik Abdulai was awarded the best in junior leadership. Private George Owusu was best in academics, and Private Richmond Appau-Bekoe was the best in drills.

There was a novelty in this year's parade as the reviewing officer promoted Private Lasidji, the overall best recruit to Lance Corporal for her exceptional performance at the school.