Hon Kofi Amankwa-Manu, the Deputy Defence Minister, has revealed that the military officers deployed to Bawku are there to safeguard the lives and properties of residents.
According to him, he could vouch for the professionalism and caliber of training provided to members of the Ghana Armed Forces. As such, he does not believe the military officers would deliberately kill anyone as they are alleged to have done by the Bawku Central MP and some residents of the area.
Hon Amankwa Manu, who was speaking in an interview divulged that, “In terms of professionalism, I will say that the Ghanaian army as we have today can be compared to any army on the globe. And so, I don’t think that the Ghanaian army will be selective in going after a particular group of people.”
“They are there to do a professional job, they are there to make sure that every Ghanaian is protected.”
Amankwa Manu
The Deputy Defence Minister to a greater extent, disclosed that the allegations about the military murdering some residents of Bawku has been clarified by the explanation offered by the military that they had to neutalise six men in the process of trying to restore order in the area. He described as absurd, any thought that the security personnel sent to protect the residents would rather purposely kill them.
The Deputy Minister, asserted that based on the briefings he had on the incident, he is of the view that the narrative that the military officers, indeed attacked the residents is suspicious.
Hon Amankwa-Manu’s statement was responding to allegations being levelled against the Ghana Armed Forces by some residents of Bawku, as well as the MP for Bawku Central, that the soldiers killed about ten people in the area.
Following these allegations, MP for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga, has petitioned CHRAJ to investigate these killings and is also demanding an amount of GH₵500,000 be paid to each of the families of those who lost their lives and adequate compensation for injured victims.
However, the Ghana Armed Forces also released a statement in response to the MP’s allegation, explaining, contrary to the MP’s narrative, that the security forces that were deployed to restore order were attacked by the locals of the town.
Bawku Conflict Is Being Fed By Politics
Meanwhile, Security expert, Dr Vladimir Antwi-Danso, has made known that the ongoing conflict in Bawku is partially being fuelled by political interference.
Speaking in an interview, he asserted that the current disturbances in the area are due to the way some politicians have taken an interest in the matter.
According to him, his interaction with some security officials brought him into the knowledge of how some politicians are adding to the tensions in the area. He therefore called for such political interferences to cease in order to help restore calm in the area.
“The conflict in Bawku if being fed by politics. So the politicians are also fueling it. They’re putting fuel into the whole thing. We don’t need them.”
Antwi Danso
Mr Danso said efforts must rather be geared towards finding a lasting solution to the problem instead of the political interference.
Last week, seven indigenes of the town were killed by some military personnel in the area.
Meanwhile, Dr Antwi-Danso has asserted that even though the reported killing of the civilians is unfortunate, it is not unexpected.
