The committee which were tasked to look into the Ejura disturbances that led to the death of Macho Kaaka has admonished authorities for using the military to quell the situation at first attempt.
In its 55-paged report released on September 27, 2021, the Committee stated that indeed, there was evidence to support the claim that the youth of Ejura had planned to destroy properties.
However, it noted that the military were the first be on scene; noting that they used gun powder at first instance to disperse the crowd and not the verbal warnings that had widely been reported.
“We note this because, from the evidence tendered by the security personnel to the Committee, one thing that was clear is that, all of them agree that they had intelligence that the youth wanted to attack the police station, Municipal Assembly and other installations,” it said.
“If this intelligence were in existence, we are baffled that nothing more concrete was put in place to forestall the escalation of the situation than to rely on Military deployment, knowing that the Standard Operative Procedure (SOP) of the Military is such that they should not be used as a first line of riot control or crises management, but as a last resort,” the report stated in part.
“In relation to the response of the Military personnel on the 29th June, we note from the evidence that, immediately the personnel touched down, they started firing warning shots, contrary to the evidence of the GOC (Central Command) which was to the effect that, they gave a verbal warning which was ignored before the warning shots begun,” it stated
GhanaFeed.com
