Editorial by Ghanaian Times: Stop others’ use of military accoutrements now

It has now emerged that some members of the taskforce of the Ga South Municipal Assembly in Accra wear military accoutrements to perform their duties.

A member of the taskforce who pleaded anonymity has, however, disclosed he, and, for that matter, other members choose to use the military ac­coutrements at their own will.

This admission may suggest that the taskforce members do not know they are act­ing against the law banning non-members of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) to use such military accoutrements.

It also gives a hint that they may be aware but believe that the law would not be applied against them because they are doing the semblance of secu­rity job.

The whole thing becomes more intriguing when viewed against the background that these taskforce members work with actual members of the GAF, soldiers attached to the assembly, who look on un­concerned while the taskforce members violate the law con­sciously or unconsciously.

It is very difficult to under­stand the failure of the soldiers to call the taskforce members to order.

The other interesting bit of the story is that the whole Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of Ga South, Mr. Joseph Nyarni Stephen, claims he is not aware some members of the Assembly’s taskforce wear military accoutrements to discharge their duties.

It seems the MCE made this statement to escape blame but he has given himself out as someone who does not care about some of the happenings in his office and this is a seri­ous indictment.

We will not conjecture that yesterday was the first time the taskforce members wore the military accoutrements.

The heads of departments of the assembly, particular­ly the one in charge of the taskforce, cannot escape blame either.

It is the case that either they are ignorant of the law banning the use of military accoutrements or they think their state power and authority can save them from any blame or sanction.

This shows how some public officials abuse the power given them by the state.

The wearing of military accoutrements by taskforces of the various district assem­blies, private security person­nel and other such personnel should cease forthwith and the military high command should ensure this.

The public must know the difference between who a true soldier and other security per­son is by their outfits.

This is important because non-members of the GAF can use military accoutrements to harass members of the public to tarnish the image of GAF.

We already know how ruth­less some of these assembly taskforce members are even without wearing military uniforms, so we can image the threats and ‘hostility’ once they are posing as soldiers.

We wish to state that we ap­preciate the assistance the state security institutions give to se­curity personnel of both public and private organisations.

However, the state institu­tions, particularly the police and the military, should make those they choose to work with know their limit and operate within bounds.

And this they should do with all the immediacy or urgency because when the unexpected happens, they cannot escape blame.