Political scientist, Dr Kwame Asah-Asante, has called on the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) to apologise to residents of Ashaiman, Taifa over the brutalities meted out following the death of a soldier, Sheriff Imoro.
Dr Asah-Asante has said the action was dehumanizing and must be condemned in no uncertain terms.
Speaking on JoyNews’ AM Show, he bemoaned that the act by the military will taint Ghana’s democratic portfolio.
“They’re very unfair, it’s a shameful act, and Ghana Armed Forces must come out clean and apologise profusely without giving us conditions.
“My pain is that this is going to go into the US State Department report on human rights and it is going to affect our democratic credentials. It’s definitely going to be a blot on our democratic culture,” he charged.
He also expressed disappointment in President Nana Akufo-Addo for not condemning the violent actions while delivering the State of the Nation Address on Wednesday.
“I was surprised that this ugly spectacle we saw in Ashaiman never featured in the President’s state of Nations address. I was so surprised and hurt.
“Democracy has dipped by one point because people including himself have fought for democracy in this country. So for him, for something of this magnitude to happen and the President will just close his eye to it I find it very unfortunate and I think we deserve something better. This should have occupied the attention of Mr President,” he said.
Dr Asah-Asante stressed that the President’s refusal to comment on all forms of human rights abuses is becoming consistent and problematic.
“I’m not surprised because when the eight people were killed in the last election, and then the President was pronounced as the winner of that election, the President shied away in his acceptance speech.
ALSO READ:
Ashaiman military brutality should not have happened – Adam Bonaa
Parliament to probe Ashaiman military brutalities
GAF explains the reasons behind the Ashaiman raid [full text]
“He shied away and never commented on that and it’s becoming consistent and I’m not happy that I have a president who has stood all his life worked as a human rights supporter and we’re seeing aberrations of this nature and the president will not talk about that,” he lamented.