Military man in 'Kalyppo selfie' freed

The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) has acquitted the military officer who was under investigation after his Kalyppo selfie circulated widely on social media recently.

Private Osei Owusu of the Ghana Military Police was said to be responding to questions in relation to his act which was deemed as an affront to the Armed Forces Regulations Act of 1962.

The Director of Public Affairs of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) Col. Aggrey Quarshie is reported as saying that pictures taken using “military accoutrement” are technically the property of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), adding that officers who want to use them for personal purposes must apply for clearance.

“Your picture does not belong to you and you are not supposed to do anything with it,” he said.

A picture of Private Owusu dressed in his military camouflage sipping the Kalyppo drink went viral on social media, barely three days after a photograph of the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo taking in the fruit juice circulated.

Opponents of Akufo-Addo put out a picture of him sipping the fruit juice which was intended to mock him as the drink is meant for children, but it sparked a response from supporters and party officials who filled social media platforms with their pictures while taking in the Kalyppo drink in solidarity with their leader.

The picture of Private Owusu sipping the drink also got onto social media, with a section of the public fearing he’ll be sanctioned or dismissed out rightly for what some people thought was towing a political line.

But speaking on Okay FM Thursday, Col. Aggrey Quarshie stated that a committee of inquiry has cleared Private Owusu of any charges that were leveled against him, and he’s presently working.

“We’re done with him and he’s currently at post working. It is the media that ‘charged and sentenced’ him but we have no issues with him, he’s free. The media should stop discussing this matter as it has been settled.”

According to him, a soldier flouts military laws if he/she engages in an activity that will make him/her popular at the expense of the army and it was important that Private Osei Owusu’s mind was averted to this fact.