The Duty Officer of the military detachment in Wa, Upper West Region, who reportedly permitted soldiers to storm the Wa township to brutalise civilians over alleged missing phone is to be tried.
The trial of the officer would commence on or before Wednesday, July 14, 2021 and three other personnel, who engaged in the unsanctioned operation, have seen their ranks reduced.
Their ranks have reduced from Staff Servant to Corporal, Corporal to Private and Lance Corporal to Private.
The Defence Minister, Dominic Nitiwul, disclosed these when he briefed Parliament, yesterday, on military brutalities in Wa, which has been condemned.
“The trials [and or the demotions in rank of the personnel] are without prejudice to the outcome of the subjects under any forms of investigations” Mr Nitiwul, who is also MP for Bimbilla, said.
According to him “eight other soldiers who were deeply involved and visibly identified in various videos brutalising some residents have been charged, tried and awarded 30 days each in detention by a Disciplinary Board.
“The remaining soldiers who were involved in the incident will be transferred out of the region.”
Uniformed military officers were on July 1 seen in viral video terrorising civilians in the Upper West regional capital in search of a colleague’s phone which was stolen a day earlier.
The incident led to the injury to 11 persons, with one of the affected, Gafaru Mohammed, having to undergo surgery at the Upper West Regional Hospital.
Mr Ntiwul said regrettable as the development may be, Ghana’s military remain disciplined, well trained and respected across the world for their professionalism.
He said “The swift action taken by the Military High Command among other reasons is to re-enforce the sense of discipline among the troops and also to safeguard their worldwide reputation.”
Mr Nitiwul said government would continue to re-equip the Armed Forces to enable them to carry out their duty of protecting the citizenry and the territorial integrity of the country.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
