Ranking Member Of Parliament’s Defence And Interior Committee, Rev. John Ntim Fordjour, has called for the suspension of the ongoing Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) recruitment exercise following the tragic stampede at the El-Wak Sports Stadium that claimed six lives.
Speaking on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen show, Rev. Fordjour expressed his condolences to the bereaved families and the injured, describing the incident as “deeply unfortunate.” He urged a comprehensive investigation to identify the lapses that led to the disaster and cautioned against rushing to blame the military.
“This is not the first recruitment since pre-independence, and such an incident has never happened before. No one should criticise the Armed Forces, but we must investigate what went wrong,” he said.
Rev. Fordjour recommended decentralising recruitment centres to improve crowd control and prevent future tragedies. He also criticised what he described as a leadership deficit at the Defence Ministry, noting that the Acting Minister — who also serves as Finance Minister — is preoccupied with budget preparations.
“The leadership crisis at the Ministry of Defence is dangerous and reckless for our country. The acting Defence Minister, who is also the Finance Minister, is preoccupied with the budget statement he will be presenting in Parliament tomorrow. He has little time to oversee and review operational duties at the Defence Ministry. We need full-time leadership. Someone should have been appointed to oversee the recruitment process. Everything should be suspended and thoroughly investigated,” Rev. Fordjour said.
He reiterated his call for the suspension of the recruitment exercise until a full inquiry establishes the causes of the stampede and appropriate safety measures are implemented.
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