Military, Police clash not so worrying – David Agbee

David Agbee, a security expert, has observed that the clash between a police officer and some military men at Kumasi on Monday was a minor disagreement and not because of a clash of roles.

Some soldiers at the Uadarra Barracks at Adum, Kumasi, in the Ashanti Region on Monday night assaulted a uniformed policeman for using the road at the barracks to the regional police command.

Class News’ Owoahene Addai Mununkum reported that the soldiers resorted to beating up the policeman after he refused to heed their warning not to use the route. Investigations are underway to ascertain the reason for the assault.

Speaking on this development in an interview with Valentina Ofori-Afriyie on 505 on Class91.3FM on Tuesday June 6, Mr Agbee said: “I think it is just a simple misunderstanding between the two institutions. I don’t think that they are struggling over their functions. The constitution has actually defined the functions of the military and defines the functions of the police service and so it is just a simple misunderstanding between these powerful security agencies.

“I think that it is not something that all of us should be worried about although it calls for a certain worry, it is not something that has degenerated into more of a confusion between the two. But what we need to discuss is the fact that at times there is a personality clash between a police officer and then a military officer where each and every one wants to prove a point.

“This is not to say that they are crushing each other or fighting among each other for superiority. Although in this country, one way or the other, everybody will believe that the military is a much more disciplined institution across board but once upon a time you would see some of them misbehaving which [was] not good enough. But I think that we should all tone down, not to prejudge…but to make sure that the two institutions work collaboratively so that [they] will protect our territorial boundaries.”