As Ghanaians wait with mixed reactions to the pending change of government on 7 January 2017, depending on which side of the political divide they belong, I want to revive one subject which may be dying an unnatural death.

Yet still, it could resurrect after the change of government, if I am allowed to play the devil’s advocate. It has to do with the question of whether or not the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is still recruiting security personnel, though its days are numbered.

It will be recalled that the Co-Chairman of the Transition Team on the New Patriotic Party (NPP) side, Mr. Yaw Osafo Marfo, said that they had heard through the grapevine that the outgoing NDC government was recruiting personnel into the security services before handing over.

When quizzed, Hannah Tetteh, the spokesperson on the NDC side explained that she read from the dailies about an advertisement on the recruitment of personnel into the Armed Forces. She further added that, from sources, it was a routine exercise, which was planned a long time ago and was not likely to be concluded before the handing over date.

She said, beyond that, she was not aware of any other recruitment of personnel into the security services and the NPP government could reverse the decision if it did not like it.

What is playing out today is almost similar to what happened about eight years ago, when the NDC took over power from the NPP after the bitterly contested elections. The only difference is that this time, the roles have been reversed.

In January 2009, Professor Atta Mills won the Presidential election after the last vote was counted and the result declared at the Tain Constituency in the Brong Ahafo Region. Soon after that, so-called NDC foot-soldiers committed a lot of atrocities, which is akin to what happened in the immediate past, even though the NPP is yet to formally take over the reins of government.

The import of this article is not to chronicle all the unsavoury events of the past. I will, therefore, limit myself to the security services, especially the military, since the seeming disagreement between the two sides of the Transition Team on the recruitment of personnel into the security services may be linked to what happened eight years ago.

In early February 2009, about 400 Army potential recruits, after six months of going through the necessary processes, conglomerated at the El-Wak Sports Stadium to be conveyed to the training centre at Shai Hills. They were from all the ten regions of the country. Their seeming joy soon turned into sorrow when they were told, upon directives by the new political leadership, to pack their belongings and return to their homes.

There were deep wailing and gnashing of teeth. Some of these potential recruits had gone down to Accra from as far away as Paga, Bawku, Half Assini, name them. Most of them had to sell their kit to fare themselves back home. Some of the young ladies practically went into prostitution to be able to obtain lorry fares to go to their towns and villages.

Some of the young men were so ashamed to return to their hometowns that they remained in Accra and joined criminal gangs. To the best of my knowledge, that was the first time such a decision had been taken, where a wholesale group of potential recruits was made to truncate their training before it had even begun.

One may ask what informed that decision. It was claimed at the time that the recruits were predominantly foot soldiers or favourites of the outgoing NPP government, which had just been booted out of power. Put in another way, the majority of the potential recruits were suspected to be favourites of the outgoing government recruited through the back door.

As an interested person in the outcome of that whole saga, I followed it critically from the very day the potential trainees were dispersed from the El Wak Stadium until the issue died an unnatural death.

The then Director of Manpower Planning (DMP) at the Department of Personnel Administration, Colonel Kojo Damoah, became the fall guy for the entire process. A Board of Inquiry (BOI) was convened to investigate his role in the recruitment exercise.

As Acting Director of Physical Training and Sports at the General Headquarter then, I assisted the Army Headquarters to recruit sports personnel. Perhaps because of the role I played, my name came up during the proceedings of the BOI, which were carried in some daily newspapers.

This greatly embarrassed me.  Consequently, I volunteered to give a statement to the Board to clear my good name. My evidence, which was given on oath was meant to correct the impression that I told Colonel Damoah that another officer had confided in me that he was going to be removed.

To cut a long story short, Colonel Damoah became the main casualty of the BOI. His case was not helped when he chose to speak to the press. As service personnel, we are enjoined not to speak to the press; unfortunately for him, he decided to take his case to the court of public opinion by speaking to the press.

Personally, I did not think he was guilty of the many allegations levelled against him and I believe no proof was established in that regard. I knew him as a good officer from the Armed Forces Pay Corps. He had a couple of Masters degrees; he was a qualified Chartered Accountant and also a Barrister at Law.

His was a case of double jeopardy because he was due for posting to a foreign mission, which would have entailed an eventual promotion to his next higher rank. He was dropped alongside other officers, who did not curry favour with the then-incoming administration.

His crime, from what I knew, was that he paid too much attention to details. The typical infantry officer would dismiss you without even listening to your complaint if you had any. He was so approachable that officers, other ranks, and even civilians could easily contact him in his office.

He applied the regional balance policy religiously, which did not go down well with so many people. All sorts of lies were said about him, including claims that he took monies to recruit people. I am narrating these events, not because I want to castigate anyone but to highlight what political interference can do to the cherished Ghana Armed Forces.

Now let me return to the allegation that the current NDC government has embarked on a recruitment drive to reward its favourites before leaving office. As explained by Ms Hannah Tetteh, if it is the advert which appeared in the dailies, then there might well not be anything fishy about it.

Besides, no one from the outgoing government can benefit from it. My suspicion is that, given what happened in 2009, some people in the incoming administration may want to retaliate or equalize by putting out this allegation, but two wrongs definitely do not make a right.

I think the NDC erred seriously in doing what it did in 2009 and nothing can be done to assuage the pain of those unfortunate victims. This is not to suggest that malpractices cannot happen, but any such suspicion must be based on established facts and not mere speculation or political vendetta as happened in 2009.

As has always been stressed, governance is a continuing process and such actions don’t serve the public good. People will ask why I am putting this in the public domain now. As a loyal and proud member of the Armed Forces, I could not express these views while still in active service for obvious reasons.

I love my country and I love the Armed Forces, which I served meritoriously for the better part of my adult life. I sincerely hope this article will serve a good purpose.

In conclusion, I will like to appeal to our Politicians not to meddle in the armed forces, which is a sacred institution and must be maintained as such. It is for this reason that the President is the Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces and an entire ministry is devoted to it.

The President is the only one who can declare war. Note that the President is not the Commander in Chief of the civilian security and paramilitary organizations. Our armed forces is arguably one of the finest in the sub-region and beyond and our officers and men have distinguished themselves the world over.

Unfortunately, some good officers’ careers suffered because they were so professional that they refused to align themselves with any political establishment and therefore paid the price. Indeed,  like Colonel Damoah, some brilliant senior officers who would have made a difference in the fortunes of our country, have had their careers abruptly truncated, while some average officers quietly passed through the system into stardom.

Their crime was that they did not belong. God, in His infinite wisdom, has given our country an elderly statesman to be our next president to bring about change. I hope that change begins with the non-interference in the cherished professional Ghana Armed Forces.

N/B: Those recruits who were sacked from the Army Recruit Training Centre last year are likely to take advantage of the change in government to appeal to the new political leadership to go back to training. So far, they have tried every means to achieve that aim, including threats of joining terrorist gangs.

The incoming government will be committing a grave error of judgment if it bows to such a demand. Theirs was simply a case of mutiny. In the military, there is a phrase “all for one and one for all”.

If one person does something praiseworthy, the praise goes to all; if one person commits a crime, the whole group is punished. That is why mutiny is a court martial offence in the military.

In my opinion, the military authorities took the best course of action in sending them home. I hope no one is comparing this to the case of the poor potential recruits of February 2009.

Source: myjoyonline