Speaker Bagbin speaks against security brutalities on the citizenry
Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin on Wednesday cautioned security personnel that the House would be forced to adopt stringent measures to curb brutalities unleashed on the citizenry.
He said: “We will no longer tolerate police brutalities in the country. Parliament is the centre of this democracy in Ghana. The concept is very clear.
“We will be forced to take stringent measures to curb this when it persists,” Mr Bagbin said this during the House’s consideration of a report of the Defence and Interior Committee’s an incident of military brutality on some residents in Wa in the Upper West Region last year.
Mrs Ophelia Mensah Hayford, Vice Chairman of the parliamentary Committee on Defence and Interior, presented the report on the floor of Parliament in Accra and said steps had been taken by the Military High Command and the Ministry of Defence to foster good civil-military relationships in communities where new military units had been established.
The committee has therefore recommended giving compensation to victims of such brutalities, their relatives, and bringing the culprits to book.
It would be recalled that a referral was made to the Committee on Defence and Interior by Mr Joseph Osei- Owusu, First Deputy Speaker of Parliament for an investigation into the Military-Civil unrest in which soldiers were seen in a viral video beating up people in Wa in the Upper West Region over a missing phone.
The referral was occasioned by the statement made on Friday, 2 July 2021, by Mr Haruna Iddrisu, Minority Leader, drawing the attention of the House to the adverse effect of the Military band brutalities on citizens and calling on the relevant authorities to take necessary measures to control the situation.
According to reports, two persons were allegedly killed by Police officers last month.
The first of such victims, Albert Donkor is said to have been killed by some Police officers who picked him up last week in a private vehicle after he allegedly mentioned among friends that he had seen a Police officer involved in a robbery incident.
Also, a student, Victor Kwadwo Owusu, was allegedly killed by Police while the youth of Nkoranza were protesting over the alleged killing of Albert Donkor.
In a related development, two months ago, a clash between the youth of Akatsi in the Volta Region and the Police led to the death of two people.
The youth massed up at the Police station to demand the release of an impounded motorbike after Police allegedly ran over three persons on a motorbike with their riot van.
The incident occurred near the Akatsi Training College, resulting in the death of one of the riders.
Source: GNA