Editorial by Ghanaian Times: Curtailing excesses by security personnel

For many Ghanaians, the frequent use of excessive force leading sometimes to death by law enforcement and security personnel in the country is a subject matter that cannot go away.

Although it is said that security is a shared responsibility, it does appear that security personnel is often the ones that use excessive force and brutalise citizens in the discharge of their duties.

Admittedly, however, on a few occasions, security personnel have also come under attack by members of the public who are expected to lend support to the personnel to do their work.

It is one of those incidents that took place at Ejura in the Ashanti Region some­time ago, that, led to a clash between some residents and the military, which resulted in the death of two persons and four others injured.

A similar incident happened at Garu, Tempane where securi­ty personnel were reported to have descended on the town and adjoining communities on October 28, 2023, after the youth allegedly attacked some national security operatives who were on duty in the Up­per East Region.

The joint military and national security team deployed to the area on October 28, 2023, to retrieve guns that were used by some irate youth of the area to at­tack personnel of the national security a few days earlier.

Unfortunately, the opera­tion left one person dead and many others hospitalised. This has attracted condemnation from a cross-section of the public who are obviously not happy with the excessive force used by the security personnel in that operation.

The Minister of National Security, Albert Kan-Dapaah, agreed with this position when he told Parliament yesterday that the reported cases of brutality meted out to some residents of Garu and Tempane could be “ex­cesses” of security personnel deployed to the area for a “critical operation.”

Briefing the house, Mr Kan-Dapaah said regrettable as the excesses were the mission of the team in the community was solely to retrieve the guns used to attack the personnel.

He explained that on Octo­ber 24, five counter-terrorism intelligence officers deployed to Garu to undertake a “crit­ical operation” were, upon arrival, “besieged by some irate youth who were armed with weapons including AK47 riffles.”

Although the Ghanaian Times condemns the excesses by the personnel, we equally express our disapproval of attacks on security personnel who are carrying out their legitimate duties.

While we call on the security personnel to act in accor­dance with UN basic princi­ples on the use of force and firearms by law enforcement officials, we entreat the public to offer the needed support to the personnel to enable them to discharge their duties effectively.

Everyone needs to understand and appreci­ate the fact that, security is a shared responsibility and requires collective efforts. Therefore, public support and respect for law enforcers, especially within the security services is paramount.

The exceptional role the security personnel play in making sure that this country is safe and well secured from criminals, among others, can­not be lost on anyone.

This is not to say that the security personnel must operate with impunity. As said before, they must operate within the law and must be answerable if they indulge in excesses.