'We must stop dividing soldiers into NDC, NPP' – Paul Adom-Otchere warns

Host of Good Evening Ghana, Paul Adom-Otchere, has called for an end to the practice of dividing members of the Ghana Armed Forces along political lines.

Speaking in an interview on Raw with Roselyn and sighted by GhanaWeb, he said the military is an institution that must be protected from political interference because soldiers serve together despite their different political, ethnic and religious backgrounds.

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Adom-Otchere said he becomes worried when soldiers are described as either supporters of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) or the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

“I get very worried when people want to divide soldiers into NDC and NPP. I think that's one institution that we must protect from political interference,” he said.

He acknowledged that soldiers, like other citizens, may have their own political views but said such views should not affect their lives within the military.

“People always have a political view, no doubt about that, but it should not show footprints in the lives of people in a place like where soldiers are staying,” he noted.

Adom-Otchere made the comments while reflecting on his experience working with the military and his time spent at Burma Camp.

He said his experience had given him a better understanding of the military and how it operates.

“In Ghana, peculiarly the time that I've been working, military has been part of it. So I've been very fortunate that in the most thematic areas, I'm able to appreciate them and then also I have this background that makes me thoroughly understand the military and how they work. It has aided my work and I'm just grateful,” he disclosed.

He also recalled the sense of unity he experienced at Burma Camp, where people from different ethnic and religious backgrounds interacted without allowing their differences to divide them.

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“And the camaraderie that we shared in Burma Camp, we were not coming in as tribes or Ewes or Gas or Akans; we were the same. That's what Burma Camp gives you. It doesn't discriminate. It doesn't even discriminate [based on] religion,” he said.

“If our friends are Muslims, we don't care that they are Muslims. We play with them, and we observe their Muslim festivals; they observe our Christian festivals,” he added.



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