There is no justification for the deployment of the heavily armed and masked security personnel at the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election, who physically assaulted some civilians.
This is according to a former National Security Advisor, Brigadier General Nunoo Mensah.
Speaking to Citi News about the widely condemned events of Thursday 31st January’s by-election at the constituency, the former Chief of Defense Staff said, professionally trained security officers do not act in such an irresponsible manner.
“When I saw the pictures on television I was wondering why at this stage of our development, this thing should happen in Ghana. It was shocking to me. Since independence and from the start of the 4th Republic, we don’t behave like this in the military. And if even officers who are trained to kill don’t behave like this, it is appalling. It cannot be explained in any way,” he said.
Videos from a polling center within the constituency showed the physical assault of some citizens including the Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, Sam George.
The attack was carried out by some masked men who were heavily armed at some polling stations.
The identities of the masked men and whose instructions they were working under was not known until the Minister of State in Charge of National Security, Bryan Acheampong disclosed in a Citi News interview that they were security personnel sanctioned by the state.
But Brigadier General Nunoo Mensah believes there can be no reasonable justification for the deployment of such personnel.
He further expressed worry that the incident may spark worse forms of violence and assault during the 2020 elections.
He further called for pragmatic steps to address the challenge of party vigilantism in the country.
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By: Ebenezer Afenyi-Dadzie | citinewsroom.com | Ghana