Police-military brutalities – A blot on our democracy

On the 4th of March, Ghanaians woke up to the sad news of the murder of Trooper Sheriff Imoro of the Ghana Armed Forces at Ashaiman. Trooper Imoro is the second military officer to be attacked and killed by civilians under the fourth republic.

The late Major Maxwell Mahama also lost his life through mob attack whiles on a national mission to halt illegal mining at Denkyira Obuasi.

The attacks by civilians on military personnel have always led to tension between the military and communities where these attacks occur, even though the military command managed to calm their colleagues during Major Mahama's incident, the current attack on Trooper Imoro has resulted in a reprisal attacks on innocent civilians, footages of the military operation at Ashaiman has been condemned by well-meaning Ghanaians and human rights activist.

Ghana has had a checkered past, the military has been part of the governance structure in our sixty six years of independence. The last military government before the introduction of the fourth republic is the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC). The PNDC ruled for almost 13 years before handing over power to a democratically elected government in 1993. Incidentally, the leader of the PNDC became the first President of the 4th republic.

During the PNDC era, the military were very much involved in running the affairs of the country, the citizenry then obeyed their instructions and there was so much cooperation from the citizenry because the mantra then was "obey before complain”. During that period, the Police whose duties include the maintenance of law and order were relegated to the background.

The military's intervention in Ghana’s democratic governance made civilians docile, the military regimes abused the rights of many Ghanaians and there were little or no avenues for redress. 31 years of democratic governance has not changed the perception of most Ghanaians towards the military, they are still feared and revered by the citizenry.

According to The Fourth Estate, a leading investigative newspaper in Ghana, 72 extrajudicial killings have been recorded since 2017 and more than 120 civilians have been injured in these military / police brutalities. Most of these brutalities are recorded during military / police operations.

Under this 4th republic, soldiers have been seen engaging in activities which is not within their remit. During the 2020 elections, military officers clashed with civilians at Techiman South leading to the death of some civilians, their invasion of the parliamentary chamber during the election of the current speaker of Parliament, the Ejura incident and the use of soldiers as bodyguards by civilians and ministers of state is a source of worry to many Ghanaians.

The Police have also had their own challenges under the 4th republic, social media and the media in general have highlighted some of the clashes between civilians and the Police force, the Police handling of demonstrators in recent times, their mode of arresting suspects and other crime related incidents have also been a source of worry to human rights activist and a section of the citizenry. The continuous tension between uniformed men and civilians at the least provocation is an issue that needs to be investigated and resolved amicably.

The constitution of Ghana is very clear on the roles of uniformed men in our democracy. Chapter 15 of the 1992 constitution stipulates that there shall be a Police service of Ghana which shall be equipped to perform its traditional role of maintaining law and order. The constitution also makes provisions for the Military under chapter 17, the Military consist of the army, navy, air force and other services for which provision is made by Parliament.

The Constitution states in Chapter 17 (3) that the Armed Forces shall be equipped and maintained to perform their role of defence of Ghana as well as such other functions for the development of Ghana as the President may determine. Clearly, the role of these uniformed men in our current democratic dispensation is well documented in our constitution and their actions must be guided by the supreme laws of the land.

Ghana's army and Police force is one of the finest in Africa, their role in peace keeping operations in West Africa and other parts of the world is worthy of commendation. The Military has produced fine gentlemen like the late Lieutenant General Emmanuel Erskine, Major General Henry Kwami Anyidoho, Lieutenant General Arnold Quainoo and a host of others who have been instrumental in helping to achieve world peace.

Several factors may account for the inhuman treatment that a section of these uniformed men unleash on civilians. One of the major factors is the lack of trust between civilians and the men in uniform, the ordinary Ghanaian does not have confidence in the police service, most people would want to resolve their issues without involving the law enforcement agencies.

A visit to the police station to report a crime or an infraction comes with a lot of frustrations. You are not guaranteed of a timely resolution of your case, you may have to sacrifice your time and resources to have your case resolved. This particular challenge may be as a result of the Police - Civilian ratio.

According to a Citi fm report in 2022, the Police civilian ratio as at 2022 stands at 1:1200 which is far below the United Nation's minimum ratio of 1:500. This makes it difficult for the few police officers to work efficiently, other challenges includes inadequate resources from government to the Police services. In recent past all governments under the fourth republic have been supporting the Police and Military with vehicles and other tools to make them effective, this gesture has improved policing in the country.

The perception of politicians facilitating recruitment into the security service has also not helped matters, it is alleged that top politicians are offered slots in the various security agencies during recruitment process and this has resulted in some misfits joining these institutions.

If this allegation is true, then the Police and Army would have to weed out these misfits and ensure that every Ghanaian interested in working for any of these institutions goes through the right channel.

Recruiting people through "protocol" would not augur well for the service, it is an avenue for discontent and indiscipline and that would reflect in their work ethics. In recent past, there have been reports of military and police personnel engaging in armed robbery and other crimes, a professionally trained officer would never engage in criminal acts to tarnish the image of the security service.

Utterances of certain politicians whenever the military or police clash with civilians have also not help matters, recently, the Minister of Defence is reported in the news to have asked the public to respect soldiers, forgetting that respect is reciprocal, his deputy is also reported to have explained that the recent incident at Ashaiman are excesses, in the past, a former deputy Minister of Defence Major Derrick Oduro defended brutalities by soldiers on civilians.

The President of the republic also failed to speak about the recent incident at Ashaiman during his state of the nation address. Such actions by people in power do not send positive signals to the civilian population.

The Police and Military are there to protect civilians, it is wrong for civilians to attack these uniformed men whenever there is a conflict between them and the officers in uniform, it is equally wrong for the military or police to carry out operations which may result in the abuse of the rights of innocent civilians.

The military under the fourth republic has done a lot to win the confidence of the civilian population. To help create a cordial relationship between soldiers and civilians, the military in recent past have been inviting civilians to tour its installations during Independence Day celebrations, the military have also been very helpful during disaster situations in the country, in some cases, they are called to rescue people trapped during disasters, they have provided water and constructed roads in some communities.

All these activities are aimed at bringing the military closer to civilians. The Police and Military must see civilians as partners in development and not rivals.

Police and Military brutalities sends a bad signal to the international community, Ghana cannot develop when we have our men in uniform brutalising the same civilians that they are mandated to protect, they must work with the relevant state agency to ensure that the citizens develop trust in them, failure to do so may result in the continuous acrimony between them and a section of the civilian population and if care is not taken, the occasional confrontation between them might escalate in to something else.

Let us all work together to protect the peace we are enjoying.