Ashaiman military brutality: Sue govt for compensation – Security analyst tells victims

The Executive Director of the African Centre for Security and Counter-Terrorism, Emmanuel Kotin, is urging victims of the May 7 military brutality in Ashaiman to take action.

Civilians in the town were attacked following the death of a young soldier in the area in May 2023.

Parliament's Committee on Defence and Interior was tasked to probe the brutalities and published the findings of its report on Friday, January 26. It recommended that the residents who suffered the attacks be compensated.

Speaking in an interview on the Committee’s report on Eyewitness News on Citi FM, the security analyst suggested the victims get a good lawyer and sue the state for compensation.

Mr. Kotin likened the Committee’s report to that of the leaked IGP tape probe and said it would amount to nothing. He thus advised the victims to sue for the damages and trauma caused to them.

“Like the Dampare [leaked IGP tape], it is the same thing that is going to happen, and so we should stop wasting taxpayers’ money because, at the end of the day, this thing will not amount to anything.”

“I will urge the victims to get a very good lawyer and look at the window of opportunity where they can go to court, and I know going to court in Ghana is not easy because it can take so many years, but that must be done to get compensations for them because some of them have lost their lives.”

He further charged state institutions to be proactive to prevent such brutalities from happening in the future.

“We must make sure that our institutions are working, and if our institutions were working, we wouldn’t be having these discussions even to begin with. Look at the terms of reference of the committee that investigated the issue, saying it was to investigate the basis of the military’s brutality in the community. Brutality is a crime, so how do you determine the basis and justify the same?”

—citinewsroom