Parliament has instructed the Defence and Interior Committee to investigate the happenings which led to the assault of some residents of Wa by military personnel.
Legislators during deliberation of proceedings demanded a parliamentary probe to guarantee perpetrators are trialled.
The decision of legislators follows the brutalising of some residents of Wa in the Upper West Region on Thursday. The act by the military was necessitated by the theft of a mobile phone belonging to one of the military officers.
To this end, parliament has tasked the Committee to present its findings in four weeks.
Speaking on the floor of parliament, Defence Minister, Dominic Nitiwul, vowed to ensure that military personnel found culpable are sanctioned.
He further explained that a committee has been set up by the Defence Ministry to review the event. Mr Nitiwul further underscored the need for the committee to consult the member of parliament for Wa and Commanding officers.
“The Ministry has also put up a small committee with representatives from the national security, the Defence intelligence and other persons to go there and find out exactly whether there are other remote causes. Because it is simply not a military character to move to town and molest people. It is not something I’ve heard before. So, I want them to go to the bottom of the matter and find out what really is the problem”.
Assault on Wa residents, not authorised
Furthermore, the defence minister resolutely stated that the acts carried out by the military personnel were not authorised by the Defence Ministry. Mr Nitiwul also insisted that the military actions were not approved either by the Military Commanding officers.
That notwithstanding, he revealed that an alleged attack on a military officer had spiralled situation out of control, leading to the attack on residents of Wa.
“This incident is unfortunate. It shouldn’t have happened because first of all, it was not sanctioned by the Regional Minister, the Commanding officers neither was it sanctioned by anybody in Accra. They are some men and women in the armed forces who moved to town to do that.
“The military got information from one of their colleagues that he was hijacked at night, while on duty”.
Mr Nitiwul noted that the Ministry’s committee will not get in the way of investigations by Parliament’s Interior and Defence Committee.
Chief of Staff apologises
Meanwhile, Major General Thomas Oppong-Peprah, the Chief of Army Staff, has rendered an apology and expressed shock over the military assault incident.
Admittedly, he explained that the soldiers were part of the unit dispatched “to protect civilians”.
“So, without wasting time at all, the military High Command met, and the decision was taken immediately for me to come here to apologise for what happened, and to tell you that all those involved in this act will be brought to book. They are subject to the Military Code of Discipline, and we will apply the appropriate sanctions. Again, I want to reassure you that we wouldn’t let this single occurrence mar our relationship at all”.
Major General Oppong-Peprah further called for community and stakeholder collaboration to help deal with the current security threats.
“We need each other, the civilians need us, and we need them, so it will not mar our relationship. I want to assure you that I will talk to the military personnel here, and in other parts of Ghana and let them understand that the modern approach to security issues is the involvement of all of us and if we do that, success will be guaranteed. It is, therefore, something we will have to teach the military, that we are partners in defeating terrorism and all forms of threats.”
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