A Ghanaian citizen who has identified himself as Adegbule Ola Durojaiy based in the United Kingdom (UK) and Ghana has written to the Appointments Committee of Parliament not to approve Defense Minister-designate, Dominic Nitiwul.
Mr. Durojaiy says Mr. Nitiwul peddled untruths before the Committee when he appeared before it for his vetting last week.
According to him, Mr. Nitiwul claimed during his vetting that some Ghanaian soldiers who were cited for smuggling of arms had been punished, but that was false.
Durojaiy in his letter said the officers were currently walking free, although they were due to face court-martial.
He said the personnel were on a peacekeeping mission in Lebanon when they were caught in the illegal acts.
“In a course of the operation, it was established Lt Col. Isaac Twum Ampofo, who had bought a second-hand car engine, concealed three Pistols, in the engine in the Sump and one Pistol in the back of a Microwave. Both of them admitted smuggling the weapons into the country. Summary of evidence and Pre-trial advised that the two should be Court Martial but all of them have been left-off-the-hook and are walking free,” he said in his letter.
According to the claimant, who describes himself as a private investigator said he personally financed the investigation and so finds it disappointing that the persons indicted have not been punished.
“It is interesting to note that these men are being protected from Court Martial.”
“To the best of my knowledge, after investigation and summary of evidence, there was a pre-trial advice by the legal department of the Ghana Armed Forces dated March 2020 for the alleged culprits to be Court Martial but they have not been tried. It therefore cannot be true what the Minister-designate stated during his vetting that they have been punished. Interestingly, most of the armed robbers in Ghana before 2017 until they were arrested, had Bruni MOD 92 this is also verifiable.”
Adegbule Ola Durojaiy said one of the persons identified in the smuggling ring confirmed gifting some items including a thread mill and a cooker to Mr. Nitiwul and there was evidence to back the claim.
He said the officer recently uploaded photos of himself and the Dominic Nitiwul on Facebook confirming that the two at least had a certain relationship for which reason Mr. Nitiwul is not getting them punished.
“If all these cannot qualify for irregularities, if concealing weapons in the Engine of a car and that of the back of a Microwave cannot be described as smuggling for which Hon. Dominic Nitiwul sees nothing wrong, then it is unfortunate and such a person must not be allowed to be a Minister in Ghana. None of the Soldiers have been punished as he claimed,” Durojaiy added.
