Executive Director of the Africa Centre for Security and Counterterrorism (ACSC), Emmanuel Kotin, has bemoaned the rate at which the Ghana Armed Forces is losing its respect amongst the Ghanaian populace.
According to him, the politicization of the military is leading to a high level of indiscipline and the trivialization of their roles are making them gradually loose respect in the country.
His comments come on the back of a number of instances in the past where the military have been seen abusing citizens and engaged in acts unbecoming of them, with the most recent being the arrest of Flt. Sergeant Nicholas Owusu Frimpong in connection with the discharge of a firearm at A&C Mall, East Legon, on Friday, December 31, 2021.
The security analyst posited that military officers in recent times have been seen providing private security to wealthy clients and politicians, having been reduced to directing traffic at weddings and funerals in some cases.
Mr. Kotin attributing the dwindling respect for military officers to their growing familiarity with the civilian community added, “The mystery and reverence for the military is dwindling because they have become a lot more common in the public eye. In Europe you will hardly see a military officer in town wearing their uniform when off duty. But in our country, military officers wear their uniforms and patrol town even when off duty and act as if they are above the law.
We should develop a system where military officers have a changing room at the barracks. This way they can wear their uniforms and report to duty at the barracks and change into civilian clothes after their shifts and head back home.”
Addressing Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning Show, he indicated that such a system will even go a long way to improve intelligence gathering.
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