Ghana Armed Forces Imported Drugs

By Kenneth Agyei Kuranchie

It is unbelievable but true! A newspaper in our land has stated that it knows for a fact that the Ghana Armed Forces, under the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government, imported drugs into the country!

"We know it for a fact that some cocaine barons were using the Armed Forces to do their cocaine business," the Ghanaian Lens wrote yesterday!

The newspaper added, "They were supposedly importing items for the Army when indeed they were importing cocaine into the system!"

The above claims are part of a front-page comment published in the Ghanaian Lens newspaper of yesterday, Thursday 12th November, 2009! For your information, this is a pro-National Democratic Congress (NDC) newspaper, and until a few months ago, it had Mr. Koku Anyidohu as one of its Editors. It is edited and managed by Mr. Koby Fiagbe.

The above quotations are part of a commentary the newspaper wrote yesterday titled 'Thank God Damoah Has Been Axed!!! (Part 1)" and apparently was in response to the honourable discharge of Colonel Kwadwo Damoah, former Director of Manpower of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF).

For the public information, the write-up contained many unacceptable pronouncements, many of which were highly libelous of Col. Damoah and other top army officers, current and past, but I do not think that I would sully my pages with a repetition of the claims made by the Ghanaian Lens. Suffice it to state that they are bad enough, and are completely exposed as lies because if even a single one of them were true, the army would not be discharging Damoah on honourable grounds!

Indeed, it is my opinion that Col. Damoah should sue the Ghanaian Lens for libel in this matter, because it is about time some newspapers in our land realized that there is a limit to plain faced stupidity, and that is what the write-up was yesterday.

I shall be back to reiterate this point, but let me go to another issue that was the subject of the publication yesterday, that Col. Damoah was the person used by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to engage in a deliberate policy of 'Akanisation' of the Ghana Armed Forces.

The newspaper wrote yesterday, "This Damoah character, he was the main architect behind the "Akanisation" of the Ghana Armed Forces.

"Damoah's policy was to turn the Ghana Armed Forces into a tribal army with Akan's having over 70% representation.

"As Director in-charge of Manpower at the General Headquarters (GHQ), Damoah was the brain behind denying Ewes, Gas and Northerners the opportunity to enlist in the Armed Forces. Apart from preventing non-Akans from joining the Army, Damoah and his group also made sure that lots of Ewes, Gas and Northerners who were already in uniform, were frustrated out of the military," the paper wrote.

As a Ghanaian through and through, I feel physically dirty when I am forced to discuss our tribal differences as a person. It makes me feel dirty, because it is unnecessary, but it would seem that the people at the Ghanaian Lens enjoy just this sort of debate, so I would indulge them.

Before the advent of the New Patriotic Party in government, the Ewes (Koby Fiagbe and Koku Anyidohu are Ewes) had the highest representation in government, the unnecessary and dangerous consequence of 19 years of ruling by Jerry John Rawlings ( of half Ewe, half Scottish parentage). With the coming into power of the NPP, the decision was that the processes of enlistment, which made this possible, should be reviewed.

Yes, it was Col. Damoah who was responsible for designing and implementing the policy of regional representation as a basis for recruitment into the army. By this method, each region was given a quota to meet for enlistment into the army, and so all tribes were expected to be represented.

The necessary consequence of this policy is this; the Akans are dominant in terms of numbers in Ghana. Let me say that it is an unfortunate fact, but it is the fact. There are at least five regions in Ghana that are Akan. They are the Brong Ahafo, the Eastern, the Western, the Ashanti, and the Central regions. The Greater Accra region has a huge Akan population, and together in terms of numbers, they are dominant. Parts of the Volta region are Akan. Again the Akans, like all tribes, can be found in all regions.

It stands to reason that if we were to use raw demographic data as a basis for recruitment into the army, the Akans would be higher in numbers.

To simply claim that the Akans had 70% of representation in the army, without bringing on board the demographics as to the composition of tribes in Ghana is, excuse me to state, uneducated.

In any case, it is significant that Mr. Fiagbe finds nothing wrong with the fact that at a point in our history his tribesmen formed the majority in the army, when they were a minority tribe in terms of numbers!

I feel sullied in discussing such matters, because I think that I have moved beyond issues of tribe, but in we cannot continue to allow irresponsibility to escape without check, if we are to progress.

Which brings me to this point; the National Media Commission should invite Mr. Koby Fiagbe to remonstrate with him over his claims about our army, that it was involved in drugs!

To close, I am waiting to also hear from the GAF and the Ghana Police Service in this matter! If a newspaper can claim that the Army dealt in drugs without being invited to prove his claims, then we can write and say anything! We have had enough of the irresponsible behaviour sponsored by the NDC's friends!

My friends, enjoy your weekend!