{"id":4944,"date":"2019-10-18T15:01:49","date_gmt":"2019-10-18T15:01:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.com\/ghana\/?p=4944"},"modified":"2019-10-18T15:01:49","modified_gmt":"2019-10-18T15:01:49","slug":"ndc-claims-govt-is-training-militia-baseless-lacks-substance-minister","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/ndc-claims-govt-is-training-militia-baseless-lacks-substance-minister","title":{"rendered":"NDC claims gov\u2019t is training Militia baseless, lacks substance \u2013 Minister"},"content":{"rendered":"

Government has described claims by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) that it is training militias at the\u00a0Asutsuare\u00a0military training camp in the Eastern Region as fictitious.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Deputy Defence Minister, Major (Rtd) Derek\u00a0Oduro, said\u00a0nothing of that nature is ongoing at the training camp and that there was no way the Ghana Armed Forces will agree to such a scheme.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is baseless, it has no substance. The Ghana Armed Forces does not accept any political party in any of its military barracks or camps.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you put any party paraphernalia or sticker on your car, you cannot enter Burma Camp. They will tell you to remove it if you want to enter the camp or go back. It is never, ever true,\u201d he said in an interview on Joy FM\u2019s\u00a0Top Story.<\/p>\n

Former President John Mahama made the allegations that the NPP was planning to wreak havoc during the 2020 elections when he met with the President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) last week.<\/p>\n

Mr Mahama claimed that a letter by the Upper West Security Council requesting that some members of the governing NPP be presented for combat training for next year\u2019s election was proof.<\/p>\n

According to him, after following up on that letter it has emerged that the party indeed has sent these executives to Asutuare in the Greater Accra Region to be trained.<\/p>\n

He described the situation as worrying, fearing that that singular\u00a0decision can destabilise the country.<\/p>\n

The NPP has categorically denied the allegations.<\/p>\n

But the NDC, certain of their allegation \u2013 one they claim can be proven with videos circulating on social media\u00a0\u2013\u00a0is warning of danger.<\/p>\n

According to Director of Elections, Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, the party is under pressure from its supporters to arm itself ahead of the 2020 election to counter what the governing NPP is doing.<\/p>\n

Major Derek\u00a0Oduro is convinced the NDC is simply desperate.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe NDC can do anything\u2026I have not heard or seen any move by the NPP party to train anybody in any of the military institutions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He added that if at all there is any training ongoing at any of the military training camps, it certainly must be for\u00a0legitimately recruited personnel.<\/p>\n

\u201cRecruitment procedures were followed, they are not militias. They are proper recruits who will soon become professional soldiers. We are not training any militias there,\u201d he insisted.<\/p>\n

Major Oduro said President Akufo-Addo couldn\u2019t enact a law banning the activities of party militias only to turn around, through unacceptable means, to train such people.<\/p>\n

\u201cHave we exhausted all the police, military and other security agencies,\u201d he queried, adding \u201cif we want more we will train more\u2026Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will never ever do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the NDC maintains it claims, Major Oduro advises that they should take any evidence they have to the police, otherwise their only intention is to \u201ccreate fear and panic.\u201d<\/p>\n

A security analyst, Col. (Rtd) Festus Aboagye doubts if the Deputy Defence Minister\u2019s response settles the issue. At least not in the media.<\/p>\n

He is, however, encouraged \u201cthat the NDC is engaging with the National Peace Council. That is one avenue that I think Ghanaians must repose a great deal of confidence in.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Peace Council together with other institutions like the CHRAJ [Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice]\u00a0and so on should really take these allegations seriously,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

He stressed the need\u00a0for the issue to be settled before campaigning for the 2020 elections start.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Government has described claims by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) that it is training militias at the\u00a0Asutsuare\u00a0military training camp in the Eastern Region as fictitious. Deputy Defence Minister, Major (Rtd) Derek\u00a0Oduro, said\u00a0nothing of that nature is ongoing at the training camp and that there was no way the Ghana Armed Forces will agree to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":4945,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[3282,3283,876],"class_list":["post-4944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-deputy-defence-minister","tag-major-rtd-derek-oduro","tag-national-democratic-congress-ndc"],"yoast_head":"\nNDC claims gov\u2019t is training Militia baseless, lacks substance \u2013 Minister - Ghana<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Government has described claims by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) that it is training militias at the\u00a0Asutsuare\u00a0military training camp in the Eastern Region as fictitious.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/ndc-claims-govt-is-training-militia-baseless-lacks-substance-minister\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NDC claims gov\u2019t is training Militia baseless, lacks substance \u2013 Minister\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Government has described claims by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) that it is training militias at the\u00a0Asutsuare\u00a0military training camp in the Eastern Region as fictitious.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/ndc-claims-govt-is-training-militia-baseless-lacks-substance-minister\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ghana\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-10-18T15:01:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/ghana\/2019\/10\/544220049_432442.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"470\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"356\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"francis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"francis\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/ndc-claims-govt-is-training-militia-baseless-lacks-substance-minister#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/ndc-claims-govt-is-training-militia-baseless-lacks-substance-minister\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"francis\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/#\/schema\/person\/3687592f7713dc6c826cf5bbd0e55bca\"},\"headline\":\"NDC claims gov\u2019t is training Militia baseless, lacks substance \u2013 Minister\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-10-18T15:01:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/ndc-claims-govt-is-training-militia-baseless-lacks-substance-minister\"},\"wordCount\":594,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/ndc-claims-govt-is-training-militia-baseless-lacks-substance-minister#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/ghana\/2019\/10\/544220049_432442.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Deputy Defence Minister\",\"Major (Rtd) Derek\u00a0Oduro\",\"National Democratic Congress (NDC)\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/ndc-claims-govt-is-training-militia-baseless-lacks-substance-minister#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/ndc-claims-govt-is-training-militia-baseless-lacks-substance-minister\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/ndc-claims-govt-is-training-militia-baseless-lacks-substance-minister\",\"name\":\"NDC claims gov\u2019t is training Militia baseless, lacks substance \u2013 Minister - 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