There is no specific legislative prohibition on wearing military camouflage in Ghana, according to Peter Lanchene Toobu, the member of parliament for Wa West.
The former superintendent of police said the wearing of replicas isn’t criminal.
Speaking on the back of the invitation of some Ashanti Regional NDC executives by the Regional Police Command for wearing military camouflage during a tour by former president John Dramani Mahama, Mr. Toobu said if wearing camouflage was illegal, the government would have taken measures to halt the importation of the many replicas that flood the open markets.
Mr. Toobu explained that “the principle is simple, if you are a police officer, you dress in a uniform to show that you are an officer and if you are a soldier, you are a soldier by training, but the uniform is symbolic of who you are and so if you are not a police officer or a soldier, and you are wearing army uniform, they [the military] have the right to question you.”
He further intimated that aside from the questioning by the military to prevent impersonations, there is actually nothing unlawful about wearing replicas.
“If you wear camouflage, that is not the Ghana Army uniform, that shouldn’t be an issue unless there is a law banning the importation of camouflage into the country,” he further told Umaru Sanda Amadu on Eyewitness News on Citi FM.
Mr. Toobu also admonished the public and the media to be circumspect in reporting these incidents to avoid unnecessarily denting the image of the Ghana Army.
Six executives of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Ashanti Region were invited for questioning for wearing military attire during the former president’s visit.