Flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Mahama, says if he wins the 2024 elections, his government will investigate the military brutality that occurred in Garu in the Upper East Region in 2023.

On the first day of his tour of the Upper East region, Mr Mahama visited Bawku Central, Pusiga, Timpani, and Garu constituencies. His key messages included plans for a 24-hour economy, prioritising peace in Bawku, and other regional concerns.

• Read also: Calls for creation of a new region out of Bawku area justified – Mahama

During his visit to the Garu constituency, Mr Mahama stated that the NDC is committed to justice and accountability.

The October 2023 incident led to the death of one person after soldiers responded violently to an attack on National Security operatives by a vigilante group.

But Mr. Mahama stated that if elected, he will ensure justice for the victims of the Garu incident.

He presented an amount of money to the widow of one of the victims who died last year.

“There was an incident where some of our people were brutalised and one was killed. He left a wife and children. This evening, I gave a small donation to be given to his wife to look after the children but when we come into government, we will do an inquiry into it so that it doesn't happen again.”

“We must learn the lessons from what happened so that tomorrow it will not repeat itself. And so when we come, we will do an inquiry. The most important thing for us when we come into office is peace in Bawku,“ he added.

The flagbearer also proposed building dormitory blocks for senior high schools with large catchment areas to help students who struggle with daily commutes.

“Our policy is that for the community day schools that have a big catchment area where the students cannot commute daily, we will build dormitory blocks so that the students can stay in the school,” he said

He also promised to complete the Eastern corridor road to improve access between the Northern and Southern parts of the country.

“If you have to go down south, it is the shortest and fastest way to go to Accra. So I can assure you that when we come, the Eastern corridor will be one of our priorities. I know the economy is in a mess, but we are going to prioritise so that it is a project that we can achieve in the shortest possible time."

At the palace of the chief of Pusiga, Mr Mahama vowed to eliminate secret recruitment practices in state security agencies.

“In Ghana we have one police man to almost 1000 people. So it means that, there is space for us to recruit more police officers and we're not going to do secret recruitment like these people are doing. They don't advertise and before you see, people are training. They pick their own favorites and they are training them and all the other youth don't get the opportunity. This time when we're going to recruit, we will bring the recruiters here to your region. So you don't have to travel to Accra or anywhere,” he said.