Respected Political Scientist and Public Intellectual Professor Ransford Gyampo has revealed that some soldiers of the Ghana Armed Forces have been reduced to pounding fufu for civilian appointees to which they have been assigned to provide services such as bodyguard duties.
Prof Gyampo, who had earlier expressed disappointment at the use of soldiers for duties meant the police and called on the leadership of the army to act, said that using soldiers for such undignified acts is a way of ‘decimating’ the image of the Ghana Army.
His revelation comes after widespread criticism of Army Commanders for allowing their men to be used for duties that fall outside their mandate and which are considered demeaning for officers of the Ghana Armed Forces.
“On this crusade, I’ve just been told that some soldiers actually pound fufu in the homes of some civilian appointees. What a way to decimate the image of our most disciplined institution! Do we have an army commander in Ghana? Prof Gyampo queried on social media in a post.
Soldiers are traditionally meant to protect the territorial integrity of the country while the Ghana Police Service takes care of internal security. But increasingly, soldiers are being used for duties such as serving as bodyguards to politicians, a duty typically reserved for officers of the police service.
This development has been met with much criticism from many Ghanaians who argue that it denigrates the image of the soldiers before the eyes of the general public.
