Dismissal of 500 military recruits


NEWS COMMENTARY ON THE DISMISSAL OF 500 MILITARY RECRUITS 



In the heat of the Christmas festivities, Ghanaians woke up to a rather shocking story of the dismissal of a colossal 500 recruits undergoing training at the Ghana Armed Forces Training School at Shai Hills for insubordination.  

The recruits, were said to have staged an unauthorized assembly complaining that the training amounted to “maltreatment” and later marched to the instructors’ accommodation, demanding to be sent home because the training was strenuous.  

According to the Director of Public Affairs of the Ghana Armed Forces, Colonel Emmanuel Aggrey-Quashie, the implications of the recruits’ behavior are far-reaching and inimical to the security of the State. 

But quite apart from that, one needs not be a trained security analyst to recognise that the action of the recruits amounted to mutiny, and a sign of soldiers who were not ready to defend the country as the chief instructor at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre Colonel Dr. Emmanuel Kotia rightly indicated.  

The point is if the recruits were not prepared to go through tough training, they cannot certainly be ready to live up to their own oath of defending the state by air, sea and land at any time at the peril of their lives. 

It is no secret that soldier recruits anywhere in the world go through tough training and Ghanaian soldiers are no different, because that is what makes them formidable forces to reckon with. 

At the entrance of the military school, it is written boldly "hard training, easy battle", and that has been the tradition. 

In Liberia, it may be recalled that in the 1970s, persons who were not properly trained to replace aged and retiring officers were recruited and out of these untrained and uneducated recruits emerged the organizers of the 1980 coup that eventually plunged that country into conflict. 

That is why proper training coupled with discipline should be the hallmark of every soldier worth the salt. 

The dismissal of the recruits is therefore proper and should be accepted in its stride. As the dismissed recruits have been given some military training, whether basic or whatever, they are geared up and primed for action. 

They thus constitute a threat to society, especially as bitter as they are, for losing out. 

The least the authorities can do is to ensure that the dismissed recruits are not just let loose.  

It is refreshing to hear that the Bureau of National Investigations has been tasked to ensure that none of these dismissed recruits find their way into any of the security services. But more importantly, measures should be taken to clip their wings so they don’t unleash their venom on society. 

Once their conduct has already been established as mutiny, which is a serious offence in the military, they should as a matter of necessity be taken through the administrative processes, tried and punished if found guilty. Such characters deserve more than has been meted out to them.  

It will not be out of place to conjecture that, in the era of flourishing political vigilante groups, such as Invincible Forces, Bolga Bull Dogs and Azorka Boys, and especially as we approach elections next year, these disgrunted elements could be hot targets for recruitment by these political parties and even terrorist groups, who knows? What makes matters scarier is the increase in the influx of arms and ammunitions into the country in recent times. 

One recollects the discovery of caches of weapons in Kumasi a few weeks ago and just yesterday, customs officers at the Aflao border intercepted one million cartridges for short guns. Truly, times are rough and the government and all state security and intelligence institutions should not take anything for granted. 

One may ask, why are we passing judgement on the recruits when we haven't heard from them, but the military has carved a niche for itself in doing due diligence and would not have taken such a drastic action if it were not in the best interest of the state. 

The dismissal should send a strong signal to potential or aspiring soldiers that, that profession  is not for the faint-hearted; you must necessarily have the mental, physical, psychological, and moral tenacity to go through strenuous training to cultivate the hardihood needed in the profession. 

Indeed, you must have a lion's heart to be a soldier. 

But the whole saga also raises a number of questions, in the first place, how were the people recruited? Did they decide on their own to be soldiers or they were just pushed into the system through connections, be it political, family, friends or whatever? 

These are legitimate questions, because, we are a country where parliamentarians boast of the number of their constituents they pushed into the security services. Again,  the so-called protocol system is now more of a reality than a mere perception. 

It is true that the military and for that matter the other security services have adopted measures to improve on the processes of recruitment, especially following the infamous police recruitment scam, but can we say the system is that full-proof now? Certainly not. 

This, should be a wake up call for all to ensure that the right things are done, for the safety of the citizens and the nation is paramount.

BY BUBU KLINOGO, A JOURNALIST.



GBC