Protester wearing military-pattern uniform
The National Liberation Council Decree (NLCD) 177 of 1967 stipulates that no person shall wear or use military unforms, equipment or accoutrements or other materials unless he or she is a member of the Armed Forces of Ghana.
Acting on this legislation, the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) has on several occasions issued warnings and has placed a ban on the use of military-pattern uniforms by civilians.
Contrary to the dictate of the law, and the ban by GAF, the use of military accoutrements has been on the rise, and in recent times largely among protesters.
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The last two major protests organized in Ghana; #OccupyJulorbiHouse and #OccupyBOGprotest were characterized by the adornment of military-pattern uniforms such as berets with GAF ensigns, military jacket, jumper, green and black slacks.
Speaking to the impact of the use of military – pattern uniforms by protesters and civilians on national security, Anthony Acquaye, a Security Expert with the Centre for Security Dialogue and Peace Advocacy mentioned that the practice has the tendency of skyrocketing cases of impersonation and crimes committed in the name of GAF.
“It is very dangerous to use military uniform or anything that links up to the military. The use of military accoutrements by civilians poses a lot of threats to all civilians in the sense that, most civilians with these uniforms tend to use them to impersonate and, in some cases, commit very heinous crimes. This does not only put the lives of general public at risk, but it is a serious dent on the military,” Anthony Acquaye explained in an exclusive interview with GhanaWeb.
Touching on how best the use of military-pattern attires among civilians can be clamped-down on, Security Analyst, Ibard Ibrahim called on the military high command to strictly streamline persons they award contracts to produce military uniforms and also arrest and prosecute persons who illegal print and sell them.
He said, “most often, the excuse given by most civilians who wear military colors and patterns are that, they bought it on the market. To prevent that, the military high command should rigorously vet and streamline who they award contracts to make the military their accoutrements.”
He added, “they should not relent on bringing to book persons who are caught producing military uniforms or patterns illegally.”
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