Military brutality in Wa: Name and Shame all 86 officers – Security Expert

Security Analyst, Emmanuel Kutin, has said that the sanction meted out to about 86 military officers for their involvement in the Wa incident is not enough.

According to him, the Armed Forces must “name and shame” all 86 military officers to bring some comfort to the Ghanaian people.

His comments come after the Minister of Defence, Dominic Nitiwul, announced that eighty – six young soldiers of the 10 Mechanized Battalion in Wa who stormed Tindama, a suburb of the town, and brutalized some residents of the area have been punished.

Emmanuel speaking in an interview with Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning show said: “We were expecting that at least there will be some names of these soldiers to at least bring comfort to the Ghanaian people and make people believe that the punishment was meted out but when names are not mentioned and they are not named and shamed, it will not serve as a deterrent for others to behave in that manner. That is the highest form of misconduct from trained military personnel”.

He added that it is not too late for the superior hierarchy of the military to re-establish trust between the civilians and the military by providing accountability of the incident that occurred in Wa.

On July 1, 2021, 86 young soldiers of the 10 Mechanised Battalion in Wa stormed Tindama, a suburb of the Wa municipality, in search of a colleague’s smartphone which had allegedly been stolen.

In a viral video, the soldiers were seen assaulting some members of the community, an incident that triggered public condemnation across the country.

This led to an investigation of the matter by the military high command and the National Intelligence Bureau.

The Defence Minister in Parliament yesterday said the victims who were interrogated reported the loss of 13 mobile phones, a tricycle and an amount of GH¢1,460.

“However, seven mobile phones and the tricycle have been retrieved and returned to the owners. No money has yet been retrieved”, he added.