Editor-In-Chief of The Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr, has questioned the rationale behind Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin‘s request for military protection.
Quoting a statement from the Majority Caucus which indicated Mr Bagbin already has 12 policemen, he stated he could not fathom why he needs more security personnel.
“We are told you have 12 policemen and four soldiers. What is the threat? Are you Samo Roshni? What is this and we are even being told previous Speakers had just three and now we have moved to 12,” he fumed on Accra-based Metro TV.
A letter from the Chief of Defence Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces, Major General Andoh, to the Speaker ordered the withdrawal of four military personnel.
The soldiers; WO1 Jafaru Bunwura, WOII Apugiba Awine David, S/Sgt Agbley Prosper and Sgt. Bonney Prince had been serving the office since January 2021.
The letter said the attachment was done without proper procedure, hence the withdrawal.
The action has been met with mixed reactions with Mr Bagbin describing it as untenable.
The Minority also believes that the soldiers’ attachment to the Office of the Speaker of Parliament could have been regularised without withdrawing them assuming the claim that it did not follow due procedure was true.
But Mr Pratt says he was scandalised by the development, stating it is a total humiliation of the security services as some of the roles they perform are deviations from their core mandate.
He cited the country has had several speakers who did not have the number of the security detail, stating it does not augur well for the country, considering the police to citizen ratio.
“They have been reduced to carriers of bags and books in court and I am sure some are made to go to the market. We should not bend our security services; we need to treat them with respect.
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“In any case, why does the Speaker think he needs military protection? What has he done? And now we have turned into a blame game; NPP and NDC. Why is the Speaker a war General,? he queried.
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