Dear Air Marshal Oje,
I did not have the benefit of
listening to your Press Conference held on Friday, 25 November 2016, but I have
read the reportage as captured on Ghanaweb the same day and to tell you the
truth I was not amazed. You will recall that I had the great honour of serving
my country as Minister of Defence and in that capacity I worked with you and
many distinguished servicemen and women. I got to know you personally during
that period and as you are aware I have tremendous respect for your high sense
of professionalism and patriotism. I think that some of your pronouncements and
indeed posture at the press conference were an attack on some of the values
that the military hold dearly. I have since taken the liberty to discuss it at
length with my friend the former Deputy Attorney General, Hon. Kwame Osei
Prempeh and we have decided to send to you this Open Letter. We do this not out
of malice but because we believe that certain principles must be protected.
Our first concern is that your
pronouncements at the said Press Conference pose a threat to the Liberal
Democratic path (a hybrid of the US/Westminster systems) which we have
embarked on since the beginning of the fourth republic in 1993 and this must be
of concern to all well-meaning Ghanaians. The concept of civilian control of
the military has been dealt a big blow. Coming from the CDS and considering the
timing, we think that this is rather unfortunate and should be a matter of great
concern to all of us – politicians, including the ruling government, civil
society groups, the Council of State and the public at large.
Secondly, we are of the opinion that
considering your position as the CDS, especially your mentoring responsibility,
your posture was too aggressive and your choice of words and patronizing manner
as you delivered your warnings to your compatriots (including His Excellency
the President) left much to be desired of a top military officer in a liberal
democracy. Not surprisingly, many people have commented that your attitude was
akin to military dictatorship or the authoritarian democracies that are
gradually emerging in our part of the world. Certainly your posturing did
not suggest to many observers that as the head of our Armed Forces you would
want to submit yourself to civilian control. Did the Chairman of the Armed
Forces Council or the Minister of Defense authorize you to come up with all
those policy statements which have serious implications for the security of our
country?
You stated that you have assessed
the security situation in the run up to the election and you see enemies of
state everywhere who are hell bent to disturb the peace and stability of our
dear country and that such law breakers or “warmongers” would be crushed on
election day. But, if we may ask why not before? Why do you want to wait till
the day of the election? Again what would happen after the so called warmongers
have been crushed on the day of the election?
Thirdly, two fundamental issues arise
out of this conference and must be answered.
- Did you as the CDS, hold the press conference on your own initiative without the approval of the Commander in Chief or his representative, the Minister of Defence?
- Did the President and the Commander in Chief or the Minister of Defence approve the press conference and thus the plan to crush unarmed law breakers on Election Day with military force?
An affirmative answer to either
question has serious implications not only on civilian control of the military
in a liberal democracy but also the use of military force in any
internal security operations.
Fourthly, we find it strange that
you as CDS took the centre stage at a joint press conference with the Inspector
General of Police in a security operation in which the military must only play
a supporting role. Any wonder that some members of the populace have argued
that the purpose of the press conference was to create fear and
panic with a view to intimidating voters who want to exercise their
franchise?
Our humble advice to you is to tone
down the rhetoric and also reduce your public pronouncements. Such public
pronouncements should be led by the Minister of Defence with the CDS in support
to explain operational issues, if necessary. That way, the Minister takes
responsibility for any lapses and shields the CDS from public attacks which
have the potential to erode confidence in the military.
If indeed, you had the permission of
the President to embark on this media blitz where you threatened to use the
full force of the military on unarmed civilian protagonists in an election in
which the Commander in Chief himself is a candidate then this must be worrying.
Equally disturbing is the moral
question of using the military force against one’s own citizens in an election
disturbance which the civil police should ordinarily be able to handle.
Furthermore, it raises the issue of
unwittingly inviting the military into the political space. We must at all
times insulate the military institution from politics and public attack and
ridicule.
It is important to emphasise that
civilian control of the military in a democratic dispensation is all about the
civilian authority being the ultimate decision maker in as far as the use
of military force is concerned .The military then carries out the
execution of the assigned tasks professionally and without much
interference from the civil authority.
Our humble plea is that at this
point in time we must focus on finding solutions to all issues which have the
potential to trigger violence even before the elections on 7th December 2016.
We do not have to wait until Election Day before we “crush” the warmongers so
to speak. That will be too late in the day and in any case, what happens after
we have crushed the warmongers? The unintended consequences are too dire
(including military takeover) for us to contemplate.
At this stage, permit us
distinguished CDS, to ask you to join us to admonish the major actors during
this election season as follows. The main actors in this election are the
political parties, the Electoral Commission, Civil Society groups including the
media, Ghanaians, our security agencies and most importantly our President and
Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces who is also a candidate and has the
responsibility of controlling the security agencies.
We appeal to all the actors to
exhibit professionalism tinged with a high sense of integrity and selflessness
in discharging whatever duties are expected of them. In particular we
urge you to advise the President not to get the military involved in any
contentious election duties (such as keeping ballot boxes in its custody)
in order to avoid dragging the military into any quagmire.
The current arrangement whereby the
military plays a supporting role to the police in election security should
suffice for now if we are to avoid embroiling the military in any election
dispute. The military is so vital an institution whose image we must all
protect.
All political party leaders should
urge their members and supporters to refrain from any acts of provocation that
can lead to violence. Whereas it is the responsibility of the governing party
to ensure there is peaceful election, the opposition parties should also note
that they cannot achieve their aim of effecting a change in government if the
election cannot take place due to violence. They both have a shared
responsibility of peaceful co-existence and therefore must exercise restraint
even under extreme provocation.
The Electoral Commission (EC) has a
very herculean task. The success or otherwise of this election rests squarely
on its shoulders. There will always be provocation from the political actors.
The EC’s ultimate goal is to deliver a free, fair and transparent election. The
professional abilities, integrity, selflessness and above all the emotional
intelligence of its staff will come into play if the EC is to succeed. The
Commission has a rich history of delivering credible elections and we recall
the wonderful work of Justice Abban (Electoral commissioner in the 1970s) who
fearlessly refused to change the people’s verdict to the wishes of the then
military government during the UNIGOV referendum in 1978. How we wish we could
return to those good old days when the value of integrity and selflessness of
state officials was the norm rather than the exception.
Our final advice to the security
agencies is for them to discharge their responsibilities to the best of their
ability bearing in mind the timeless values of Service and Integrity.
We assure you, our distinguished CDS
that we have published this Open Letter without any malice and we hope that you
will carefully consider the suggestions and pieces of advice contained in this
letter.
With assurances of our highest
esteem, we remain,
Hon. A.
Kan-Dapaah,
Hon. K. Osei-Prempeh
Former MP and Minister of
Defence
Former Deputy Minister of Justice & Deputy Attorney General
