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Merely dismissing
the 500 military recruits is not enough
By Dr. Michael J.K. Bokor
Monday, December 28, 2015
Folks, the immediate move made by the military high command
to dismiss 500 recruits being trained at the Asutsuare
military installation is proper and should be accepted in
its stride. But more action should be taken to clip their
wings so they don’t unleash their venom on society. At
least, once given some military skills (basic or not), they
constitute a threat to society, especially embittered as
they are now for losing out. Will they not be potential
targets for recruitment by terrorists or political parties
in Ghana establishing private security units to defend their
interests? Such disaffected and disgruntled elements
shouldn’t be allowed to walk free. Is anybody listening?
We were told last week about the events leading to the
dismissal of the recruits. Apparently, they had violated
military standards/code of behaviour by refusing to do what
their training entailed.
As explained in a statement issued by the Public Relations
Directorate of the Ghana Armed Forces, "the 500 were sent
packing home last week for putting up “insubordinate
behaviours”. They had staged an “unauthorized assembly” on
December 3, complaining bitterly about a “strenuous”
training they were being subjected to, which to them
amounted to “maltreatment”... The implications of the
recruits’ behaviour are far-reaching and inimical to the
security of the State.”
Adding more flesh to this statement, Colonel Dr. Emmanuel
Kotia (chief instructor at the Kofi Annan International
Peacekeeping Training Centre) said that the recruits were
dismissed en bloc for alleged mutiny and exhibited signs of
soldiers who were not ready to defend Ghana. To him, the
recruits were not prepared to go through tough training to
enable them live up to their own oath of defending the state
by air, sea and land at any time.
(See
http://www.myjoyonline.com/news/2015/December-28th/dismissed-soldiers-arent-ready-to-defend-the-state-col-akotia-suggests.php#sthash.UoJJ9kY4.dpuf).
I agree zillion times with the military authorities. We are
yet to hear from the recruits themselves to see both sides
of the coin and know what exactly motivated their
resistance/rebellion.
Even before then, we note that soldiering is not for the
faint-hearted; it is for those who have the mental,
physical, psychological, and moral capacity to go through
strenuous training to cultivate the hardihood needed in the
profession. Anybody complaining about training rigours is
not fit to be in the army.
There are many questions to ask, though:
1. How were these recruits "spotted" and mobilized for the
military training? I've asked this question because of my
concern that these recruits might be either people pushed
into the system through political connections or those
related to the wives, girlfriends, cronies, former school
mates ("old boyism"), or powerful traditional leaders. It is
possible in Ghana where "connections" work for those who
know how to pull strings. Some might even have bribed their
way through. Thus, the fundamental concern is about the
recruitment process itself.
Many years ago when I participated in the monitoring of the
annual military recruitment exercises in some regions of the
country, I noticed how the process could help eliminate
misfits at the initial stages, especially those who couldn't
pass the physical exercises part. I can't tell what happened
after that stage because successful applicants moved to
higher levels that I wasn't privileged to monitor.
If what we've heard about these dismissed 500 recruits is
anything to fear, then, we urge the military authorities to
do more than they've done so far.
2. Did the military authorities not have any means for
detecting dissent/discontent among the recruits at the
initial stages before that feeling turned sour? If they
couldn't detect the problem at its formative stage, they
failed. In such a security situation, surveillance should
have given them a head-start advantage over the recruits.
3. For how long have these recruits been trained before
being flushed out? If they had already gone through many
months of training, it means that they have been given a lot
of skills and can use them to do whatever they want to.
That's very scary, especially given the fact that soldiering
involves weaponry, and the technical skills needed for it
are acquired during such training sessions. Once given the
skills, the beneficiary is pumped up and primed for action.
In this case, the dismissed recruits cannot take action in a
legitimate institution as the military. They will do so
elsewhere.
4, Has any step been initiated to ensure that these
dismissed recruits don't find their back into the military
set-up when the dust settles? My fear is that many things
can happen for them to be recruited again. We are talking
about Ghana, where everything is always in flux and the
situation is always fluid to allow much water to pass under
the bridge. The connections are always actively used!!
5. Beyond dismissing these recalcitrant recruits, what else
have the military authorities done to ensure that having
already being exposed to the modalities of military
training, these recruits won't take undue advantage to use
such skills to tyrannize society? They already constitute a
national security risk. What effort has been made to either
monitor their movements or punish them as such so they don't
go out there to worsen the security situation in the
country?
I am calling on the authorities to ensure that the dismissed
recruits are not just let loose. Having already been
established as "mutinying" (which is a serious offence in
the military), they should be taken through the
administrative process to be tried and punished if found
guilty. Such characters deserve more than has been meted out
to them.
I want to say here that the country's security will be
threatened by such characters and many others being
mobilized by political parties as "private armies" or
security whatever. And we must not tolerate it.
The discovery of caches of weapons in Kumasi and the
interception of 1 million cartridges by the customs officers
operating in the Aflao area call for serious action to
prevent any catastrophe, especially as the country prepares
for Election 2016 and some disgruntled politicians have
already begun preaching violence.
Truly, times are rough and the government and all state
security and intelligence institutions must sit up.
Otherwise, Ghana will not be the "oasis of peace and
stability ion the sub-region" anymore. Any reasonable
observer of the situation can tell how the tide will flow in
2016 as far as partisan political interests are concerned.
Those ill-prepared to deal with the process will definitely
go wayward and use anybody with any skill in weapon handling
to foment trouble. That is why I urge the authorities to go
after these dismissed recruits to clip their wings.
This is the first time that such an incident has happened;
and it must be seen as a major challenge to tackle now
before it worsens.
I shall return…
• E-mail: mjbokor@yahoo.com
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to continue the conversation
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