Minister condemns soldier assault on civilians

Ho, May 23, GNA - Dr. Kwame Addo-Kufuor, Minister of Defence on Wednesday said government was disappointed by recent assaults on civilians by soldiers.

He said no one in Ghana, including soldiers, would be allowed to behave as if there were no laws in the country. Dr Addo-Kufuor was addressing officers, men and civilian employees of the 66 Artillery Regiment in Ho.

He said soldiers should allow only institutions charged with resolving inter-personal conflicts, such as the Police to handle their conflicts with civilians and not resort to bullying them as happened in the past.

Dr Addo-Kufuor said the high international standing of the Ghana Armed Forces should not be allowed to be flawed at home by miscreants within the military.

The Minister, who was in Ho as part of his tour of military establishments in the country, commended the 66th Artillery Regiment for partnering the police and other security agencies to keep peace and order in the Volta Region.

He announced that the Garrison was being provided with two of the 18 four-storey blocks, each to house 16 families, being undertaken throughout military establishments in the country with a 20 million US dollar grant.

Dr Addo-Kufuor, using illustrations took the durbar through the infrastructural developments going on in the various military establishments and equipment refurbishment programmes for the various arms of the military.

During inspection of works going on in the Ho Garrison, Dr Addo-Kufuor directed that immediate steps be taken to clear components of a water reservoir system at the ports to ensure the early completion of the project.

He also expressed displeasure at the delay in the renovation works on the Regiment Commander's residence and guesthouse. At the Regiment's Medical Post, Dr Addo-Kufuor said he would liaise with the German Embassy on the possibility of the German government, including the Ho facility in its support for the rehabilitation of medical infrastructure of the Ghana Armed Forces. The German government had since 1996, been supporting a complete transformation of the 37 Military Hospital into a first class sub-regional military outfit.

Dr Addo-Kufuor later paid courtesy calls on Mr Joseph Nayon, Deputy Volta Regional Minister and Right Rev. Dr Livingstone Buama, Moderator of the E.P. Church.

Major-General Samuel Odotei, Chief of Army Staff, Mr Emmanuel Ofosu-Appeah, Chief Director of the Ministry of Defence were among those who accompanied the Minister on his visit.