The Ningo Prampram Member of Parliament (MP), Samuel Nartey George, has questioned the rationale behind having the military at the National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) demonstration.
He said the military has “never been a tool for crowd control” as such the party expected to see the police and not the military.
“The military officers are not trained for crowd control so what is their business on the road?” he quizzed.
“As organisers, we have no consultation whatsoever with the military, we have had consultations with the police even as far as agreeing on what side of the roads to walk on, where to make the turns and everything, so why bring in the military?” he told JoyNews’ Daniel Dadzie.
Some soldiers were seen on Tuesday morning at the Accra Mall, the starting point for the demonstrators embarking on the ‘March for Justice’ demonstration.
According to the Ningo Prampram legislator, part of the reason for the demonstration is “the excesses of the military.”
Referring to the recent shooting of some protesting youth at Ejura in the Ashanti Region by soldiers, Mr George said, “we don’t want to provoke the people.”
The MP then alleged that there had been a meeting to direct the officials to the road for reasons he did not mention.
“To those who sat at the meeting last night and decided that they are going to put the military to meet us halfway, we’ve seen your decision,” he said.
Mr George stated that unless the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) had requested support amid a protest, the military involvement will be of no need.
“Has the IGP said that he is incapable of handling the situation?” he questioned.
“Since when has the military been the ones responsible for security in a demonstration. The military is always a backup when the police themselves make the request for the military,” he added.
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