The chairman of the Defense and Interior Committee of Parliament, Hon. James Agalga, has stated that his chaired committee will be investigating the unfortunate incident of the military stampede that took place at the El-Wak Sports Stadium, the Greater Accra Regional center for the Ghana Armed Forces recruitment processes.
Hon. Agalga explained that after the acting Minister for Defense, Hon. Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, had briefed parliament on the preliminary details of the tragedy, members of parliament placed calls for a parliamentary probe into the matter to unravel the details of what transpired.
He also stated that the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Kingsford Bagbin, upon the calls from members of parliament, tasked the Defense and Interior Committee to investigate the incident and present a report to parliament.
“This is something that the Military High Command itself is investigating at their level. We had called for investigations at the level of parliament, and Mr. Speaker has actually tasked the Committee for Defense and Interior, which I chair, to look into the matter and report back.”
Hon. James Agalga, Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee for Defense and Interior and Member of Parliament for Builsa North
The Ghana Armed Forces announced that before the commencement of the screening process at the center, potential recruits rushed into the stadium, breaching security protocols, which triggered a tragic stampede that led to the deaths and injuries.
The Acting Minister for Defense, in his statement on the floor of parliament, reported that “there were 34 persons who were direct casualties—some of whom are not potential recruits: 6 persons have been confirmed dead, 5 are critical and in ICU, 12 are fairly critical, and the rest are stable and under observation.”
The chairman of the Defense and Interior Committee emphasized that the quest to prevent occurrences of this nature informed the decentralization of the Armed Forces recruitment processes to the regional level.
“I must indicate that it was to forestall the occurrence of stampedes that this current administration decided that we would decentralize the recruitment process. So, you would notice that across all the regional capitals, a similar exercise is ongoing.”
Hon. James Agalga, Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee for Defense and Interior and Member of Parliament for Builsa North
He noted, however, how it is unfortunate to still experience what they intended to avoid at the Greater Accra Regional Center.
He also noted the president’s prompt visit to the 37 Military Hospital, where victims were sent for medical care, to commiserate with the injured, and afterwards called for the process to be halted in the Greater Accra Region to pave the way for investigations.
“I know in the coming days, the president, being one who is full of compassion, will definitely ensure the wounded are not left unattended to. But in the meantime, he has ordered that the process of recruitment be halted to pave the way for the matter to be looked into. And moving into the future, steps would be taken to forestall future reoccurrence of what we saw today.”
Hon. James Agalga, Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee for Defense and Interior and Member of Parliament for Builsa North
Hon. Agalga further emphasized that the committee will immediately start work on probing the events of the stampede in order to present a comprehensive report back to parliament as the Speaker had tasked.
He also indicated that measures were underway to establish contact with the families of the deceased in order to ascertain their identity. “Normally what they do is that they would try to locate the families and inform them first before they publicize the identities.” He stated.
He also emphasized that even though he would not want to go ahead of their probe and the Armed Forces Inquiry Board’s investigations, “maybe we need to do further decentralization, particularly in the capital region.” “But like I said, we don’t need to jump the gun.” He added.
The Chairman of the Defense and Interior Committee therefore emphasized that when investigations are completed and recommendations are made, they would be able to establish exactly what must have happened in the first place, which would then serve as the basis for steps to prevent future occurrences.
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