No cover for personnel who break the law - Military

Achiase, March 2, GNA - The Military Command has cautioned that any military personnel who breach the laws of the Ghana Armed Forces or the land would not be shielded. The Military Command has, therefore, urged the public to report military personnel who misbehave, abuse civilians or take the law into their own hands for the requisite sanctions to be applied. "The army has two laws; being the laws of Ghana and the laws regulating personnel of the Army, therefore, nothing makes any military person immune from sanctions or penalties when he goes contrary to the law."

The Commandant of the Military Academy and Training Schools in Ghana, Major-General Amadu Abdulai, gave the caution when he led a high powered delegation from the Military Command to Oda, on Friday, on a 'fact finding mission' concerning the clashes between the military and drivers at Akim Oda.

Major-General Abdulai, who met with the Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, the Regional Police Commander, DCOP George Anko-Bil and the leadership of the GPRTU at the Jungle Warfare School, at Achiase, on Friday, expressed the sympathies of the Military High Command to the victims of the clash. He said the military was not happy with the frequency of clashes between their personnel from the Jungle Welfare Unit and the civilians, and emphasized the need for education to curb that trend.

Addressing the drivers, Major-General Abdulai indicated that with the kind of training being received at the Jungle Warfare School, it would not be in the civilian's favour to have physical confrontations with the soldiers and called for a peaceful co-existence. The school, he noted, was providing a security cover for the civilians in that area. He revealed that as part of efforts to let the town's folks benefit from the military, a large demonstration farm had been created to serve as a model for the farmers to learn the techniques to improve upon their farming activities.

The Commanding Officer of the Jungle Warfare School, Colonel George Andoh, hinted that there would be an open day at the school on March 8, this year, to allow civilians interact and know how the military operated, as part of education to bridge the gap between the soldiers and the civilians. The chairman of the District GPRTU, Mr Kwame Owusu, appealed to the military to approach the leadership of the GPRTU whenever any of their members was found wanting for peaceful settlement of disputes.

The Regional Minister, Mr Ofosu-Ampofo, suggested a football match between the military personnel of the school and the civilians in the area every year to foster unity amongst them. He gave the assurance that the district assembly would take measures to de-congest the main road, which according to the GPRTU, was the source of conflict that brought about the unfortunate incident.