The main opposition party, National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member for Parliament (MP) for Tain Constituency in the Bono Region, Adama Sulemana, has blamed the Commander-In-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, for the systemic failures in the military high command.

According to the MP, the troop that went to Ashaiman in Greater Accra to apply brute force on innocent civilians, over the killing of a soldier, was sanctioned by the military high command. The MP said the troop that stormed Ashiaman on Tuesday, March 7, 2023, during a dawn swoop was regimental.

This, the MP, said means the troop took command from the top military command. The MP called on the people of Ashaiman, to put all the blame on the Commander-In-Chief and not the soldiers, who were sent on the exercise. The MP, explained that a regiment in the military presupposes that an exercise has gone through the command chain.

“The top hierarchy of the military command, including the president, cannot be exonerated from the inhumane act that transpired at Ashaiman, where innocent people were subjected to military drills and beatings.”
Adama Sulemana

Mr. Adama Sulemana, blamed the President for the systemic failures in the management of GAF, while discussing the mayhem that was visited on innocent young men in Ashaiman on Tuesday, March 7, 2023. However, he condemned the killing of the innocent soldier but said the military men were deployed from the Michel Camp, indicating the High Command was aware of the exercise.

According to him, all these are happening because of the systemic failures in the military command under the watch of the Commander-In-Chief. “There are a lot of toxins in the system all because of the economic hardships being experienced by Ghanaians, for that matter, the military men sent on errands,” he stressed.

Swoop Not Targeted At Innocent Civilians

The GAF, has stated categorically in a statement released, that the swoop conducted yesterday was not meant to hurt civilians but was an intelligence-led operation, conducted on suspected hideouts of criminals and crime-prone areas in the general area.

The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), announced that following the swoop at Ashaiman-Taifa and Tulaku, military personnel have picked up about 184 suspects, aged between 21 and 47 years old. GAF, said the suspects have since been handed over to the Military Police, adding that they will later be handed over to the Ghana Police Service, for screening and for further action.

“During the course of the swoop, the personnel seized 29 slabs and 57 mini slabs of suspected indian hemp and amnesia, among other forms of the narcotics,” GAF said in its statement signed by its Director General of Public Relations, Brigadier General E. Aggrey-Quarshie.

“GAF however, acknowledges that regrettably some innocent persons might have been caught up in the operation and consequently suffered some distress due to the location they found themselves at the time.
“GAF accordingly wishes to urge the general public to provide useful information, support the security agencies in weeding out criminals and miscreants from our communities and to desist from shielding and conniving with such suspects, in order to the curb criminal activities in the country.”
Ghana Armed Forces