State cannot be absolved of military excesses – Security Analyst

A security analyst, Col. Festus Aboagye (Rtd), has said that the political class keeps contradicting themselves when they call on the security agencies to stop brutalising citizens when they themselves are unable to apologise to the Ghanaians for wrongs committed under their watch.

Col. (Rtd) Aboagye argued that if any security agency violates anyone’s rights, the responsible sector minister, when he or she appears in any public space or event, must first apologise before proceeding to the business of the day, as it is within their mandate to protect lives and property.

“If any security agency violates any human rights, now the appropriate sector ministry, when he appears in public, must apologise first, not hold brief, and use statemanly language to say that look on behalf of bluh bluh, we apologise for the excesses.”

“This is the best way to make Ghanaians forget about the pain your ministry or sectors working under your ministry might have caused them,” he explained.

“Use statemanly language to say that look on behalf of bluh bluh, we apologise for the excesses. Now you don’t say if you touch the military, you touch whatever they will continue to beat you,” he added.

He cited the notorious Ayawaso West Wuogon bye election, where the military was authorised to go and conduct the operations of providing peace when their actions rather caused the mess.

He also referred the media to the lives lost during the 2020 voter registration and general elections due to alleged military brutalities, saying that no one came out to apologise for that situation. He contended that the government of the day can’t be taken out of the mess and should always be quick to do the needful since it is people that it is managing.

“Now, during voter registration and the 2020 general elections, we lost about 8 or 9 lives. We lost two lives during the voter registration and about eight or nine during the elections. Have you heard anybody speak on behalf of the state, apologising for the loss of those lives? Have you seen any concerted effort to try and identify those people who orchestrated such killings?” he added.

“This suggests that the state is aware of what is happening because no ordinary person could get up, wear a uniform, and go and kill.”

The retired security officer also said that the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) has not failed the purpose for which it was set up, adding that the NRC was given a specific mandate, which they executed.

He observed, however, that the NRC’s work does not terminate when the report is submitted but that there must be follow-on actions to continue to reconcile society because some of the damage that is done to national cohesion and unity is of a spiritual dimension.

He disclosed this during the round table discussion forum organised by Ghana’s Centre for Democratic Development on Thursday, March 14, to mark the 20th anniversary ceremony of the establishment of the NRC by the former president John Agyekum Kuffuor and to inquire about and find lasting solutions to the inhumane activities that were meted out to some Ghanaians during the military era.

Meanwhile, Professor Ken Agyeman Attafuah, who served as the Executive Secretary of the NRC, believes the commission lived up to its mandate.

He said one of the most central mandates of the NRC was to excavate the history of heinous human rights violations that had not been investigated, exhume their remains, and provide a platform for hearing out the grievances of affected people.