President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo should have shown sympathy to the family of the young soldier who was murdered at Ashaiman while reading the State of the Nation Address, according to North Tongu MP Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.
He criticised the president for missing an excellent opportunity to use his authority as the Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces and voiced his dissatisfaction at his omission.
Trooper Sherrif Imoro was brutally murdered on Saturday, March 4, 2023 by some unnamed individuals after he travelled to Ashaiman, ostensibly to see his mother.
Following the incident, dozens of military personnel were dispatched to the neighbourhood for a sweep, during which the troops terrorised and beat the locals.
The Ghana Armed Forces acknowledged authorising the swoop, which resulted in the arrest of 184 people and the recovery of suspected illegal narcotics, in a statement released in the early hours of March 8.
They acknowledged the swoop’s excesses in the statement, but they made no promises to apologise or look into the situation.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo should have demonstrated greater care, in the opinion of Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, by at least addressing Sherrif during his Address.
“As Commander-in-Chief of the GAF, he should have first commiserated with the family and the GAF over the loss of the soldier. But the president did not say a word. He didn’t think that he should condemn the brutality and assure that there would be a committee to probe the killing and the high-handedness meted out to the residents, and he is the Commander-in-Chief of the GAF?” he said.
The MP’s remarks came up in a parliamentary discussion of the SONA for 2023.
Amnesty International Ghana has denounced the incident, despite the fact that many anticipate the president’s first remarks on the president’s raid on Ashaiman after the assassination of the young soldier.
Also, the organization demanded an urgent independent investigation to guarantee that those in the military who committed human rights violations against the residents of Ashaiman would be held accountable and that the victims would get proper compensation.
