Captain Imoro Sanda is an innocent man

Accra, Jan. 26, GNA - Captain Imoro Sanda, the Ghanaian Soldier who was alleged to have led a team of Ivorian rebels into Ghana to abduct the chief of Saru in the Northern Region had been cleared of all wrongful acts.

"After careful investigation, the Ghana Armed Forces Defence Intelligence concluded that he was not involved and accordingly exonerated the officer from complicity in the alleged crime." Dr Kwame Addo-Kufuor, Minister of Defence, told Parliament while answering questions that: "subsequently, the officer returned to his post in the operational area in Cote d'Ivoire and resumed duties." Mr Donald Dari Soditey, MP for Sawla-Kalba had asked the Minister about the findings from his investigations into rebel incursion into Saru village in Sawla-Tuna Kalba District, which resulted in the abduction of the Saru chief to La Cote d'Ivoire.

Dr Addo-Kufuor said he personally went to the area and met with all relevant people to discuss the issue.

He said the Northern Regional Security Coordinating Council did not provide any proof of any incursion.

The Minister said he would personally not be surprised to hear that sometimes rebels from the Northern half of Cote d'Ivoire entered Ghana because the border was such that people from both sides had always interacted.

He, however, said security had been beefed up along the border to prevent harmful incursions.

He said: "In appreciation of the role that I played in the resolution of the crises, the Bole Wura sent a delegation led by his son, Prince Alhassan Hambee in December last year to thank me for the resolution of the Saru crises."

An Accra Newspaper "Crusading Guide' carried a report in 2005 about an alleged abduction of the Chief of Saru, a small town on the Ghana-La Cote d'Ivoire border.

It further alleged that a Ghanaian soldier serving in peace-keeping operations in La Cote d'Ivoire led the incursion and abduction.