Reprimand Bryan Acheampong – Emile Short Commission report

The Emile Short Commission which probed the electoral violence at Ayawaso West-Wuogon in January this year has recommended to the President to clarify the exact role of the Minister of State in charge of National Security at the Presidency.

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The commission believes this will establish a clear chain of command between his role and that of the substantive Minister, Starrfm.com.gh has reported.

“The Minister of State appointed at the Presidency to the Ministry of National Security should have clearly delineated role with responsibilities indexed to that of substantive sector minister. This should establish a clear chain of command and the circumstance under which he or she can act in the absence of substantive Minister,”  Starrfm.com.gh quoted the confidential report, a copy of which the online portal and radio station, Starr FM said it has obtained.

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It also recommended operatives should be re-assigned to their respective units after disbanding the SWAT team.

“The Commission recommends that the SWAT team of the National Security Council Secretariat should be disbanded and operatives be reassigned as appropriate,” the report recommended.

It added: “The Commission further recommends that support for special operations should be sought from the specialised units of the police directly as and when necessary.”

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Also, the Commission recommends “intelligence sharing between relevant agencies where an operation would entail or necessitate inter-agency cooperation” such as by-elections among others.

It further added that the police must be well resourced “so that they can maintain active communication during the entirety of operations. Providing equipment to only the leaders of an operation who cannot be everywhere at once leaves the flank unprotected and this would not inspire confidence in any of them.”

The three-member Commission was tasked to probe the events of the violence which occurred during the Ayawaso-West Wuogon by-election. It started its public hearings at the Christiansborg Castle, Osu, Accra on February 14.

Reprimand Bryan Acheampong – Emile Short Commission report

According to the report by Starr FM, the Emile Short Commission has recommended that Mr Bryan Acheampong must be sanctioned for unleashing masked security operatives to police an election.

The report is said to have stated that Mr. Acheampong must take “ultimate responsibility” for the operation which resulted in the shooting of six people, leaving several others injured during the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election.

“The Commission recommends that Mr. Bryan Acheampong be reprimanded for his ultimate responsibility as Minister in authorising an operation of that character and on a day of an election in a built up area,” the report presented to President Akufo-Addo said.

Appearing before the Commission, Mr Acheampong who is also the Member of Parliament for Abetifi in the Eastern Region said the masked national security operatives were deplored from his Secretariat but denied deploying them in his personal capacity.

“I have done three interviews on radio, and at all times, I used third-person pronouns. I never said I, and that is something that I am battling with … I have never said anywhere in the three interviews that I granted… I, at all times, mentioned the Ministry of National Security or the national security or we, I never said I have deployed men,” he told the commission.

Read also: Emile Short presents Ayawaso commission report to Akufo-Addo

credit: Starrfm.com.gh