The brutalization of Ashaiman residents on Tuesday, March 7, 2023 by members of the Ghanaian Armed Forces has reignited discussions about instances where the Armed Forces, in the opinion of the majority of Ghanaians, engaged in misconduct and violated the rights of citizens.
The incident in Ashaiman has some people thinking back to the time when Ghana was under military rule, when some soldiers would randomly attack innocent civilians and even murder some of them.
Raymond Acquah of the Multimedia Group has revisited a 1982 story that demonstrates how military officers clashed with civilians and violated their rights during the military era as discussions about the Ashaiman incident gain traction.
He shares the story of how one Major Joe Darko of the Ghana Army Medical Corps, Kumasi stormed a church with a pistol to order the church members to stop the service and fill potholes.
The pastor and the church members per the narrative rejected the order, pleading to carry out the assignment when they are done with the service.
Their plea fell on the good ears of the major who left the church but the leaders of the church followed it up with an official complaint to the military hierarchy about the conduct of the major.
The major was queried about the said incident which infuriated him, forcing him to go back to the church with his pistol and threatened them.
His presence sparked a clash and he, in the process discharged his firearm which injured a police officer who was a member of the church.
The church members in their efforts to retrieve the firearm from Major Joe Darko inflicted injuries that resulted in his death.
His driver who escaped, informed the military officers about the incident which sparked a wave of attacks on the church members and their communities, resulting in the death of a police officer and a football fan.