Soldiers On Rampage

The image of the military is under threat once more, as three soldiers descended on a herdsman, making away with three cows of their choice in Kete Krachi, Volta region, on Monday.

The soldiers, deployed to the area under the 'Operation Gong Gong', were said to have visited mayhem on the people and taken away their animals allegedly under the orders of the paramount chief of the area.

Another incident of soldiers engaging in unruly conduct was reported in Tarkwa, Western region.

The Krachi police confirmed that allegations of assault against a community leader was lodged with them and that investigations had started.

According to ASP Peter Glabu, the District Crime Officer, who is investigating the matter, the police would put a request to the military commander to release his boys for interrogation.  

In the Krachi incident, Ibrahim Kumah, chief of Mamata community in the Kete Krachi district, and a victim of the unprovoked assault by the soldiers, told DAILY GUIDE in a telephone interview that he reported the incident to the local police who issued him with a hospital form, which he returned after seeing a doctor at Krachi.

The soldiers were said to have also attacked another community leader, Mumuni Bagyu, chief of 'Nkatenkwan', an elderly person and forcibly took away three cows from them.

Ibrahim Kumah told DAILY GUIDE that some Chumuru men had earlier called on him demanding some cows for the impending Akwasidae festival for the Krachiwura, but he declined their request.

On Monday, the same persons turned up in the company of the three soldiers who were members of the 'Operation Gong Gong' and descended on him mercilessly.

Having demoralized him through the beating, the soldiers pointed at the cows of their choice, which they later carted away.

“They beat me to pulp and then went about pointing at the cows they preferred and took the animals away as I looked on helplessly,” he told DAILY GUIDE mournfully.

The victim said he later gathered that the soldiers acted upon the authorities of Nana Mprah Busumuru, a retired police officer and board member of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR).

“The chief said he owns the land and can make any demands he so pleases,” the man said.

Other incidents of seizure of cows, he told DAILY GUIDE, had taken place and this was causing some disquiet in this northern Volta region town, with the communities massing up.

“If the trend is not stemmed, a bloody confrontation could erupt, disturbing the peace of the town,” he said.

DAILY GUIDE learnt that the DCE of the area met the aggrieved residents to calm them down in order not to renew the age-long animosity between the settlers and indigenous people.

The detachment of soldiers in the area was to support the police to maintain law and order following a civil disorder.

When the Bawku and Nalerigu incidents were reported earlier, the authorities, seeking to manage the fallout, referred to them as isolated happenings which should not be blown out of proportion.

In the Upper East region incident, two male adult teachers were stripped naked and paraded in some streets by military personnel.

A lot of doubt was cast on the integrity of the story until a video footage of the incident was obtained and televised across the country.

This was followed by a public outcry and condemnation. No sooner had the dust generated by that incident subsided than a group of soldiers and policemen vented their libido on poor teenaged girls in the Northern region town of Nalerigu where they were on an internal security operation.

Explanations to the untoward actions had always been tainted with a high dose of PR and thus disregarded by the majority of Ghanaians.

As the citizenry continue to wait for the outcome of the investigations into the unruly conduct of the soldiers, the Krachi incident is surely an addition to the unsolved cases hanging around the military, pushing the PR Directorate to do extra duty on the floundering image of the defence machine.

Meanwhile, the Western regional correspondent of Metropolitan Television (Metro TV) Patrick Arthur, his cameraman Eric Osei and other residents of Ataneata, a farming community near Tarkwa, were subjected to severe beatings by some unidentified military personnel on Tuesday.  

The two men were in the vicinity to cover a demonstration the people had planned against the activities of Aboso GoldFields Limited (AGL) in the area.

Sources said the military personnel were dispatched to the area about a year ago to help the company drive away illegal miners or “galamsey” operators who were working on its concession at Ataneata.

DAILY GUIDE gathered that the people in the community planned to demonstrate against the company on allegations of non payment of compensation to farmers whose produce were destroyed as a result of the mining activities, and pollution of their source of drinking water.

The people also alleged that activities of the mining company which included blasting of rocks and the construction of haul roads posed a great threat to the lives of the inhabitants, particularly school children who had to cross the road to and from school.

An eyewitness indicated that the two Metro TV personnel arrived at the demonstration grounds at about 6.00 am when the demonstrators were preparing to hit the streets close to the mining site.

Suddenly, some military men in uniform, numbering about 15, arrived and in an attempt to stop the demonstrators, pounced on some of them as well as the two Metro TV staff without asking for their identity.

When contacted, Patrick Arthur confirmed the story and explained that he was not beaten but rather his cameraman was subjected to beatings by the military personnel and in the process, he sustained some bruises on the upper part of his left arm, which he described as a minor injury.

He alleged that the military personnel managed to seize the camera, his mobile phone and destroyed the cameraman's headphone on suspicion that he was taking shots of the incident.

Patrick said they were later taken to the security department of AGL where they were allegedly locked up for almost an hour without any apparent reason.

He said the Tarkwa District Police Commander, DSP Godfred Anim, later heard the story and ordered their release.

When DAILY GUIDE got to the demonstration grounds at about 9.00 am, a lot of police personnel had been deployed to the area to maintain law and order.

DSP Anim told DAILY GUIDE that the demonstrators acquired a police permit before the demonstration and described the action meted out to the Metro TV reporter and cameraman as unfortunate.

By A.R. Gomda & Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi