• He said demoting them is good but not sufficient to serve as a deterrent to others
• This follows the demotion of military officers who assaulted civilians in the capital of the Upper West
Security Expert, Adam Bona, has described the punishment meted out to the military officers who assaulted some civilians in Wa as a step in the right direction.
He, however, has reservations about it being the only punishment for them considering the level of their offence.
He said Defence Minister Dominic Nitiwul took a bold decision to ensure these officers are punished but believes there should be a more prudent punishment to deter others from repeating such actions in the future.
Speaking in an interview with GhanaWeb's Amos Ekow Coffie, Mr Bona said,
"I congratulate the Defence Minister for taking this bold step. He promised he was going to get his men to act swiftly on that and formed a committee and they have been very swift as they promised. But these their own internal punishments, demoting people within the security services including the military is one of the punishments officers go through. If you know what officers would have to go through before you get promoted from one rank to the other, you wouldn't want to lose that rank because once that happens you would realize that your mate will move on and you will be behind.
"The other punishment will have to be those who will have to be in detention and also face the court marshal and all that, that's a lot of punishment, that is their punishment but the other criminal prosecution will go depending on what the committees’ report will say, so I do believe and have confidence in the Defence Minister that all those officers will be severely punished, I do believe that it might include some dismissal, so it will be a deterrent to all other officers," he said.
Meanwhile, the Minister for Defence, Dominic Nitiwul on the floor of parliament on Thursday, July 8, 2021, said three of the soldiers who were found guilty of the brutality in Wa have been demoted.
“Eight other soldiers who were identified have been charged, tried, and awarded 30 days each in detention by the disciplinary board of the Ghana Armed Forces. The Staff Sergeant has been reduced to Corporal rank, a Corporal has been reduced to Private rank, and the Sentry on duty who was a Lance Corporal has been reduced to a Private,” he said.
Background
On Thursday, July 1, 2021, a video showing armed soldiers beating some residents of Wa on the street went viral.
According to eyewitnesses, the soldiers claimed they were searching for their stolen mobile phone and that resulted in the brutality. Read Full Story
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