In the midst of the criticisms and bashing of the Ghana Armed Forces after it invaded Ashaiman and arrested and brutalized some residents, it has, however, revealed it has had several calls patting them on the back for its operations.
The Director General of Public Affairs of the Armed Forces, Brigadier General Eric Aggrey Quarshie, who revealed this said the place had become a no go area and notorious for many criminal activities, hence the need for the operation.
“You have just some small group of people sitting behind the microphone and have access to pen and paper, making it look as if the whole country is against us. I am not defending or justifying our actions but the number of calls that I have received and the institution has received thanking us for the actions in Ashaiman. People are asking us ‘General when will you do that again.’ Because if you live within that enclave and at certain times of the day you couldn’t go to certain areas and these things happen, you will appreciate,” he revealed.
The General was speaking at this year’s Annual General Meeting and National Public Relations and Communication Summit of the Institute of Public Relations, Ghana at Kwahu-Nkwatia in the Eastern region.
It was under the theme: Staying Credible Through Rough Patches.
According to him, but for the soldiers who were deployed there to have taken pictures and posted them on social media, the issue would have been handled in a different way.
” The funny thing is that some of the pictures you saw were taken by soldiers and posted on their facebook and whatsapp pages. We have gone to do the wrong things and we have ourselves putting it out there and the media is using it against us,” he stated.
Asked by the moderator of the program, Dzifa Bampoh if he will support stakeholders engagement in dealing with issues as such, General Aggrey Quarshie was of the view that it is time the use and management of social media is taken seriously.
“But for that some of the issues may not have come out but I just want you to know that there are a lot of people who are happy that we entered those areas in Ashaiman. Maybe if you live around that place, you will appreciate,” he explained.