GAF Clears Air …Over De-Eye Group ‘Militia’

The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) says it has not deployed any personnel to evict members of a supposed militia group, De-Eye Group, affiliated to the ruling NPP, from the Christiansborg Castle in Accra.

According to GAF, no soldier has been assigned to follow any official to the former seat of government for such an activity.

This follows a Joy News documentary released on Thursday detailing the supposed operation and training of a pro-government militia group at the Osu Castle.

In the view of the report, the group has used the former seat of government for its operations for two years since the government took over.

GAF Speaks

But GAF’s Director of Public Relations, E. Agggrey Quarshie in a statement issued over the weekend was emphatic that the allegation is completely false.

It said “GAF wishes to state categorically that it has not deployed any soldier to the Osu Castle for the stated purpose.”

The GAF Director of Public Relations added that the story sourced to Myjoyonline.com also alleged that some officials from the Jubilee House in the company of soldiers have gone to lock up the offices of the De-Eye Group.”

The statement stated “Indeed no soldier has been assigned to follow any official to the former seat of Government for such an activity. This allegation is completely false.”

It however, urged the media to be circumspect in their reportage on the GAF at all times stressing that the office of the Director of Public Relations is always open to the media to cross check their stories before they put them out.

Gov’t Rubbishes

Earlier, in a press statement to respond to the content of the documentary, Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah rubbished the findings.

He said among other things that “Firstly, the Promotion and narrative of the documentary stated emphatically that a militia (a military force that is raised from the civil population to supplement a regular army in an emergency) had been uncovered training and operating at a “Security Zone”, with the complicity of the current administration, and identified them as belonging to the New Patriotic Party. Surprisingly, the 20-minute documentary does not show any evidence of such a militia or vigilante group training or operating at a “Security Zone”.

The Minister said rather, it shows a group of young men and women, dressed up in white shirts and black suits, converging at the Castle, Osu in the belief that jobs will be found for them.

“From Joynews’ own documentary, it is clear that the company is involved in helping unemployed young men and women find jobs, and operates a website that openly states their objects” the Minister noted.

Mr. Nkrumah continued ”again, in the documentary, officials of the company claim that they are in the business of helping people find jobs, and encourage the persons who sign up for their services to avoid engaging themselves in acts that breach the laws of our country…”