Member of Parliament for Klottey Korle Dr Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings has described as distasteful the recurring incidence of military involvement of land litigations across the country.
There were reports of clashes between civilians and military personnel at Dome Faase near Obom Domeabra in the Greater Accra Region on Tuesday, August 25, 2020.
The residents reportedly pelted the military men with stones and in self-defence, the military men opened fire at the crowd but the bullets did not penetrate them because they were allegedly using black magic.
Two soldiers who were captured, were brutally assaulted with knife wounds inflicted on them and their uniforms torn.
In an interview with GhanaWeb, the legislator who also consults for the Committee of Defence and Interior in Parliament noted that the august house will have to quickly address the issue.
She urged the committee to invite persons responsible for the deployment of military personnel to the area to intervene in the litigation of the land.
Zanetor added that the soldiers and by extension, the military must not engage in litigation issues.
“The military are not meant to be involved in such things… There are legal instruments in place that are meant to guide any form of litigation whether it’s over land or anything else.
With regards to some of these issues, as the defence and interior committee what we generally do is… we convene a meeting and we invite the persons over; with regards to whether it’s the commander of a particular unit or the defence minister or the interior minister…” Dr Agyeman-Rawlings stated.
“Surely, the law must take precedence over whatever it is, no matter who…” she added.
In a related development, troops of soldiers besieged the Dome Faase enclave following the assault on some of their personnel, leading to the vacation of residents from the area in fear for their life.
On Friday, August 28, however, the military personnel were withdrawn from the town after retrieving their weapons which had been reportedly seized by the residents after the clash.