The Defense and Interior Committee of Parliament and the Ministry of Defense have admitted that there were excesses in the military brutalities that took place at Ashaiman.
According to the Committee, Chaired by the Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, innocent people suffered the brute force of the soldiers.
“On behalf of the Committee, we want to sympathise with the bereaved, the young soldier’s family and also sympathise with the affected victims, those who were innocently beaten. They were not part of it, but unfortunately they got to a scene where they were not supposed to be. I heard some of them were in their various homes and they knocked, came out and beat them,” he said.
He told the Parliamentary Press Corps at a joint press conference in Parliament yesterday, following a meeting between the Defense and Interior Committee and the Ministry of Defense over the invasion and subsequent brutalities.
“I think we all have to admit as human beings, that there were excesses and therefore, we sympathise with the people of Ashaiman.”
This followed an incident which took place on Tuesday, March 7, 2023 where scores of soldiers stormed Ashaiman Taifa and Official Town, brutalised residents, motorists and commuters who crossed their path.
The action by the soldiers, according to reports, was to allegedly avenge the murder of their young colleague, Imoro Sheriff, by some unknown assailants at Taifa, in Ashaiman, in the wee hours of Saturday, March 4, 2023.
The soldier was reportedly carrying a laptop on his way to see his mother on Saturday. After admitting to the excesses, Mr Agyapong said the Committee sympathises with the bereaved family, as well as residents of Ashaiman for the unfortunate incident.
He also sympathised with the Ghana Armed Forces for the murder of their colleague.
He said the committee, which had earlier held a meeting with the Defense Ministry and the Military High Command, also pleaded with the Member of Parliament for the Ashaiman Constituency, Mr Ernest Norgbey, to take heart and trust the committee to do a good job of restoring calm and peace in Ashaiman.
The Assin Central Legislator told the PPC that members of the Committee, the Ministry of Defense and the Military High Command will pay a visit to Ashaiman next week, Thursday, to dialogue with residents in order to restore peace in the vicinity.
“We, as members of the committee, cannot inflame passion by going there to make comments that will annoy a faction…Our mission is to make sure that there is peace in this country, ” Mr Agyapong pointed out.
He added that no statement will be made on the floor of Parliament until a visit has been made to Ashaiman and all sides of the story have been heard.
Explaining why the visit to the community will take place next week and not any moment from now, the Minister for Defense, Mr Dominic Nitiwul said that investigations are ongoing and they would not want to compromise it, adding “We want to work to ensure that the issue is resolved and peace returned to Ashaiman.”
He, However, Indicated that incidences such as the one that happened in Ashaiman happen and so people should calm down.
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