Prof. Kwesi Aning is the Director of Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research at KAIPTC
• Prof Aning says it is questionable how the military was sent to Ejura when they are not trained for conflict resolution
• He also questioned the supposed intelligence that the security agencies say they had on a supposed arson on a police station by the youth
• He says that intelligence is weak and has challenged them to provide the intelligence
Prof. Kwesi Aning, the Director of Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), has punched holes in the intelligence of the security services on what they say was an attempt by the youth at Ejura to set a police station there on fire.
His comments are coming on the back of the recent clash between the youth of Ejura and the joint forces of the police and some soldiers after the former hit the streets in protest against the mob killing of one of them.
Ibrahim Kaaka Mohammed, an activist, was mobbed and killed after what has been widely reported to be his connection to the #FixTheCountry campaign, as well as what has emerged as threats he received on his life for “making the government unpopular.”
When the youth of Ejura clashed with the security forces, the situation escalated, leading to the killing of two more persons in what has also been widely criticized.
But, Prof. Kwesi Aning says that there is already low confidence of the public in the police and to have sent in the military to Ejura, meant that the situation has escalated so much.
That however, is something the security analyst said he highly doubted especially since the military is not one designed to engaged in conflict resolution.
“The police had by that time lost the confidence and trust of the society. When assessments are made, it is then up to the political leadership to step in to assuage people’s hurts. So, the military will never on its own, say, ‘Oh, we have heard there is something happening at Ejura so we are going to intervene.’ No. They must always come by an invitation and by the time that invitation comes, what it means is that the situation has degenerated so much so that we need a military response.
“Now, when you strike a blow against that state, and we bring in the military: the military hardly ever does conflict resolution or mediation, when they come in, the situation ought to have degenerated up to such an extent that it needs another type of force and therein lies my problem with this assertion that there was security assessment that said a station will be burnt, plus two people will be killed,” he explained.
Prof Aning has therefore challenged the security services to provide the supposed intelligence as they claim to have it, adding that even in his own analysis, that intelligence appears so flawed.
“I am now calling on my friend, Hon. Agalga, to ask to see this assessment and to see the conclusions of that assessment because without having seen that document, I doubt very much if that assessment just moved from ground zero to people were trying to burn down a police station. A critical analysis of that so-called document and the interview from which I am picking this information from has so many gaps that even an ordinary sieve that you use to sieve pounded palm nut to make your ‘abenkwan’, that sieve has even better holes,” he said.
Prof. Kwesi Aning was speaking on NewsFile on the JoyNews channel on Saturday, July 3, 2021, and monitored by GhanaWeb.