Parliamentary Committee presents report on Wa military brutality
Bagbin fears for 2024 polls if brutality continues
Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin has issued a warning to members of the security agencies that attacks on civilians will no longer be tolerated by the House.
The Speaker subsequently ordered that the Committee on Defense and Interior should take inventory of all previous commissions of enquiry into cases of brutality and submit a report to the House.
The Committee on June 1, 2022 submitted its report into a case of military brutality in the Upper East Regional capital, Wa, months ago.
Military officers were filmed abusing residents on a road stretch, which video clip went viral on social media attracting condemnation and calls for justice.
Speaking to the report, the Speaker said: “The military High Command took swift action, and for me, I believe that the measures that they took is adequate for these young recruits, that is my opinion and I think that the House my take that to heart and give strong notice to not only the military but all security agencies that we will no longer entertain any brutality to any civilian or any other person in this country.
“The law is there to be enforced,” Bagbin stressed, adding thus: “We will no longer tolerate this and Parliament is the center of this democracy in Ghana, the concept is very clear.
“The security agencies are agencies of the Executive. When self-regulation fails, external regulation will take over,” he added.
The opposition National Democratic Congress, NDC, continues to lament what it says is the rising spate of brutality by security forces. The party is still pushing for an enquiry into deaths in the aftermath of the 2020 General Elections.
