Col Damoah Sacked

Reliable information available to Daily Guide indicates that all is now set for the discharge of Colonel Kwadwo Damoah, former Director of Manpower/Personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces. A special arrangement has already been put in place for the solemn release of the most popular soldier in the country today, at an indoor ceremony slated for 11 o’clock tomorrow morning at the Burma Camp.

Even though Col. Damoah is supposed to meet the Chief of Army Staff, Major-General J.N. Adinkrah, at the Command Headquarters for the final exchange of pleasantries, information reaching newsmen indicates that the release of an officer in the rank of Damoah is only possible through the acceptance of the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces, President John Evans Atta Mills. This means that no such decision can be taken without the approval of the President.

Tomorrow’s ceremony would probably end months of dramatic marathon of events that arose within the Armed Forces after the National Democratic Congress (NDC) won power in the December 2008 general elections.

What is however not clear is whether Damoah’s release has anything to do with the reports of the abortive Board of Inquiry (BOI), headed by Col. B. Mussah, set up to investigate him in February this year.

The BOI set rolling the woes of Damoah (GH 2170) because he ventured to introduce what was described as regional balance in the recruitment process of the forces. Interestingly, it was the BOI, and other attempts on his life, that raised his popularity level, making him the most spoken-about personality in the entire armed forces in recent months. Before the setting up of the BOI, intelligence reports cited some clandestine movements and meetings ostensibly to deliberate over the fate of the colonel.

The first of such meetings took place at the Officers’ Mess on Wednesday 11th February, 2009. The three-hour meeting (6.28pm to 9.36pm) was attended by four senior military personnel all of who arrived at the scene in country-ride vehicles. The vehicles (registration numbers withheld) included a Toyota Land Cruiser, Serra Pick-Up, Isuzu 4x4, and another Land Cruiser 4x 4.

Two days after the meeting, specifically on 13th February, Col. Damoah was removed from post. The same group re-converged at the same venue on Monday 16th February, around 5.33pm. When proceedings of some of the meetings were published in the media, the venues of the meetings changed from the Burma Camp to Okponglo, near East Legon in Accra.

Inside reports say two major meetings were again held on 17th February, 2009 at the Castle Annex, aka Blue Gate, and at a particular location near East Legon. Among participants at the two meetings were a Major, a Colonel, an ex-Warrant Officer (names withheld) and other senior officers. The BOI could not sit regularly as expected, and this was worsened by the disappearance of Damoah, who reportedly went into hiding for his safety.

As the general public pondered over the situation, inconsistencies in the explanations of the Director of the Command Public Relations, Colonel Emmanuel Nibo, did not help matters, to the extent that he called the people of Drobo, Damoah’s town, villagers.

He first explained that the termination of the military recruitment exercise was as a result of lack of resources and assured that training would begin when funds were available, but that proved to be a lie.

His next statement that BOIs are common in the military was also rubbished by some senior officers, who hinted that the findings of a BOI is equivalent to the ruling of a High Court, and could therefore not be described as common.

The ‘villagers saga’ prompted a series of demonstrations in Jaman South constituency, with family members insisting that a Toyota Land Cruiser with registration number GT 8712 Z, loaded with five ammunition boxes, 5 AK 47s, 5 G3s and some berretta pistols had been dispatched to the town to hunt for Damoah.

Meanwhile, the report of the BOI, which was submitted to the CDS, was reportedly leaked to an Accra-based newspaper.

The eventual release of Damoah from the forces marks the end of four months of breathtaking harassments. Whether or not he would be safe as a civilian, cannot be determined at the moment.