Parliament has summoned the National Security Minister, Albert Kan-Dapaah, to appear before it on Thursday, November 9, 2023, to provide details to the House concerning the reported military assaults on residents of Garu and Tempane in the Upper East Region.
Following alleged disturbances over the weekend, with over 50 individuals hospitalized, the military is said to have caused the turmoil among the Garu residents. The purported military action is believed to have been a response to an earlier attack by a vigilante group on National Security operatives in Garu.
In response to requests from Members of Parliament for an inquiry into the situation, Andrew Amoako Asiamah, the Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament, who presided over the proceedings, instructed the National Security Minister to update the legislators on the matter during the scheduled session on November 9, 2023.
“At the moment, what I want to do is to invite the Minister to appear before the entire house, come and brief us. Probably what we are hearing is different from what the Minister has at his sleeves. So let us invite the Minister to appear before the house, he will come and brief the house, and we will take it on from there.”
Andrew Amoako Asiamah
He went ahead to set a date for the Minister to brief the House.
“So I am asking that the Minister appear before the house on Thursday the 9th of November 2023 to brief the House concerning issues related to happenings at Garu and Tempane.”
Andrew Amoako Asiamah
Garu And Tempane Youth Demand Apology
Meanwhile, youth in Garu and Tempane have demanded that the Ministry of National Security stop spreading falsehoods about the alleged assault on residents of Garu in the Upper West Region.
Instead, they have called on the Ministry and the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) to apologize for the incident.
At a press conference on Tuesday, the youth of Garu and Tempane demanded that “the government and the Ministry of National Security must halt the deliberate falsehood being perpetrated and peddled by its communicators on various media platforms.”
They also demanded “an unqualified apology from the Minister of National Security and the Ghana Armed Forces Command for such unprofessional conduct and violations of the dignity of the people of Garu and Tempane.”
On October 29, GAF personnel allegedly assaulted Garu residents during a dawn raid, which residents claimed was retaliation for an attack on National Security operatives on October 24.
However, in response to the alleged assault, the Ministry of National Security stated that it was a joint operation to seize weapons used by a vigilante group in Garu to attack National Security operatives on October 24.
However, Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga, criticized the military for unleashing mayhem on residents of Garu over the weekend.
“They said they were on an operation, and the people didn’t know which operation it was in Garu. You come and be in an obscure corner. The military, as an institution, has no basis for deciding to carry out a mass attack on the entire community because one, two, or three of their own were attacked. They must understand that these people were not wearing military uniforms, making it difficult for the people to easily identify them as soldiers and go to attack them.”
Mahama Ayariga
Many security analysts have indicated that this will retrogress the gains the country has made on the antiterrorism front, especially the National Secuirty’s See Something, Say Something campaign.
The public is very expectant of the brief and what the Minister will have to say.
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