Grain smuggling does not warrant military deployment – Col. Aboagye

Retired Colonel Festus Aboagye, a security expert and former officer of the Ghana Armed Forces, has raised concerns about the recent deployment of military personnel to combat smuggling along Ghana's border areas.

He questioned the rationale for deploying the military instead of the police, who are constitutionally mandated to handle internal security matters.

Col. Aboagye argued that the military’s involvement in border duties is not an established function and may be seen as a move to suppress votes in border areas.

He described the practice of using military personnel at border posts as a lingering legacy of past military rule.

The retired colonel made these remarks during an interview on the "505" news analysis programme on Accra-based Class 91.3 FM, hosted by Valentina Affriyie, on Friday, August 30, 2024.

He criticized the use of the military to curb the smuggling of grains at the borders, stating that there are clear constitutional requirements for deploying the military within the country.

Col. Aboagye emphasized that the reasons for deploying the military must be transparent, particularly if the deployment is under a state of emergency.

He questioned who authorized the military deployment and stressed that, in a democratic governance system, the President should first seek parliamentary approval and obtain a Legislative Instrument under a state of emergency.

"It is not within the authority of the Minister of Defence to deploy the armed forces arbitrarily.

We must follow due process in line with democratic governance.

The minister has no such powers to announce the deployment of the army on radio, he further argues," he added.

In other words, he narrated that over the years the military had been chaste in the fight against smuggling of cocoa and the fight against galamsey.

Most of the time they ended up aiding the smugglers he alleged.