The Chairperson of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Josephine Nkrumah, has called for swift action investigation into the Wa and Ejura brutality incidents perpetrated by security agencies in the country.
According to her, there is the need for transparency in the investigation leading to the assault of Wa residents.
Her comments follow the brutality meted out to Wa residents by some military personnel over an alleged phone theft belonging to one of the soldiers. This, also includes the attack on some protesting youth Ejura of the Ashanti Region which resulted in the killing of two by military personnel.
She was of the view that such a move could help bridge the current gap between the security agencies and the civilians.
“It is important that we see some swift action or reaction to what occurred in Wa and therefore seeing the swift action from the army will inspire some hope in us [the citizens].
“But, I think, [[if] we are going to keep riding on this sense of hope, then we need to see the transparency of the investigations. The investigations must indeed be made public and we must see the stiffest of punishment being meted out”.
Additionally, Ms Nkrumah explained that military brutalities being recorded in various parts of the country will gradually dissipate people’s trust in security agencies.
Military urged to be more decorous
Furthermore, she revealed that the military is abusing the morale and respect that the populace has for them. As a result, they must exercise more discretion in their interaction with the public.
“Considering the backlash on the security agency for the incident that occurred in Ejura, one would expect that members of our security agencies would be more mindful of how they conduct themselves, particularly in the public space.
“It seems they were totally ignorant or did not care about what had occurred in Ejura and how the public was lashing out against the security agencies. In spite of all of that we saw men in uniform again more or less [are] abusing the trust and confidence that the people should have in them”.
Ms Nkrumah believes that the military or the security agencies “cannot act alone”. As such, they must act with the “cooperation of the citizenry and where we have that disconnect, I dare say that we have a situation of national insecurity on our hands”.
NCCE calls for investigation to be made public
The NCCE Chairperson, further called for investigations in the Wa incident to be made public to engender trust from them. This, she explained, will equally serve as a warning and avert the others from committing similar acts.
“I think if we are going to keep riding in this sense of hope then we need to understand or see the transparency of the investigations. The investigations must indeed be made public.
“So, what we’ve seen in Wa, the first step we’ve seen are good but more importantly we want to see that they follow through with it.
“We must see the stiffest of punishment meted out to the security persons who committed the despicable act to the residents of Wa.
Justifying her stance, Ms Nkrumah underscored the need for perpetrators of the act to receive strict punishment.
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