https://www.myjoyonline.com/military-brutality-security-personnel-abusing-citizens-trust-in-them-ncce-boss/?param=-------https://www.myjoyonline.com/military-brutality-security-personnel-abusing-citizens-trust-in-them-ncce-boss/
Outgoing Chairperson of the NCCE, Josephine Nkrumah

The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) Chairperson says the military brutalities being recorded in various parts of the country will gradually wane the trust and confidence that the citizenry has in security agencies.

Speaking on the The Probe Sunday, Josephine Nkrumah stated that the military is abusing the morale and respect that the populace has for them, thus, should be conscious of their conduct especially when handling civilians.

Her comment comes after some military personnel attacked some protesting youth Ejura of the Ashanti Region killing two. Barely 48 hours later another similar incident was recorded in Wa of the Upper West Region which left some residents injured.

According to Ms Nkrumah, “Considering the backlash on the security agency for the incident that occurred in Ejura, one would expect that members of our security agencies would be more mindful of how they conduct themselves, particularly in the public space."

“It seems they were totally ignorant or did not care about what had occurred in Ejura and how the public was lashing out against the security agencies. And in spite of all of that we saw men in uniform again more or less abusing the trust and confidence that the people should have in them,” she told host Emefa Apawu.

She further indicated that security agencies need the full cooperation of Ghanaians in order to fully carry out their mandate, therefore, losing the trust of the people will be detrimental to their operations and the security of the country.

“You know the issue of confidence and trust should be of immense importance because to ensure national security, you will actually need the corporation of the citizenry. The military or the security agencies cannot act alone. They must necessarily act with the corporation of the citizenry and where we have that disconnect, I dare say that we have a situation of national insecurity on our hands," she said on JoyNews.

The NCCE boss subsequently called for a swift and transparent investigation into the military attacks that occurred at both Ejura and Wa.

She was of the view that such a move could help bridge the current gap between the security agencies and the civilians.

“It is important that we see some swift action or reaction to what occurred in Wa and therefore seeing the swift action from the army will inspire some hope in us [the citizens].

"But I think we are going to keep riding on this sense of hope then we need to see the transparency of the investigations. The investigations must indeed be made public and we must see the stiffest of punishment being meted out,” she stated.

On Tuesday, June, 29, soldiers who were deployed to control a group of angry protestors at Ejura, were captured on video firing live bullets into the protesting crowd, resulting in the death of two residents with four others severely injured.

Again on Thursday, July 1, a group of soldiers was seen in a viral video brutalising some residents of Wa in the Upper West Region.

Their action is said to have been triggered by an alleged theft of a mobile phone supposedly belonging to one of the military officers.

Currently, the government has set up a three-member committee to probe the incident leading to the attack that transpired in Ejura.

Also, the leadership of the Ghana Armed Forces has pledged to take internal disciplinary actions against soldiers who went rogue in the streets of Wa.

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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.



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