At a meeting between the leadership of the Armed Forces and the soldiers at Burma Camp in Accra, most of soldiers were visibly irritated and insisted that immediate action be taken.
They are dissatisfied with the level of response from the Military High Command after the lynching of their own demanding a stronger response from the Army on the alleged attackers.
The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) impressed on the soldiers to keep calm following the lynching of Capt. Maxwell Adam Mahama.
One angry soldier said “We are the last resort in this country. If we allow ourselves to be beaten this way… as a Christian, by what Jesus said in Matthew 26 verse 52: he who draws the sword must die by the sword.”
This soldier was supported by a Muslim counterpart with verses from the Quran.
The soldiers said they were growing impatient with the pace of the police investigation, which has so far seen about seventeen (17) suspects arrested for their alleged roles in the murder.
They made known their disapproval of the Ghana Police Service conducting the investigations and suggested that military police be made to take over the investigation and subsequent prosecution of the matter.
“We have military police. It is not in every instance that we allow the civilian police to be telling us about evidence. You have seen something clearly and you are telling me about evidence. What more evidence do you want from this? The Ghana Armed Forces has the military police. We can handle our things. It is not everything that you take to the civil police.” a soldier remarked
Some of the soldiers also called for a total boycott and discontinuation of all anti-lumbering and anti galamsey operations currently being run by the Army.
“I will suggest we leave the work for the police to also carry out so that we come back to our barracks,” one soldier noted.
However, the CDS reemphasised the stance of Former President, J.J Rawlings and President Nana Akufo-Addo for them not to engage in any reprisal attacks.
“Even though this is a cruel act, cool heads must prevail. A statement like this coming from a former member of the Ghana Armed Forces and a former head of state and a former commander in chief needs to be examined and listened to very carefully.”
“That is my appeal to you today. Additionally, our Commander-in-Chief has assured us that nobody is going to go scott free in this particular incident. We are collaborating with all the relevant security agencies and we are making study progress.” he declared.
