To whom it may concern: Enough of the military brutalities in Ekwamkrom

In recent times, the people of Gomoa Ekwamkrom in the Gomoa Central District of the Central Region, have become subject of military brutalities and assaults.

This follows the frequent deployment of soldiers to the town to intimidate, harass, molest and subject the people to all forms of military torture

It has happened twice already and the fear is that nobody knows when the third one is going to occur and the form it will take especially where some Ghanaians have been shot dead elsewhere by soldiers.

The use of the military to engage in acts of lawlessness, hoodlumism and hooliganism in the town is always perpetuated by one Dr Ekow Annan Kaitoo who is from the town.

To lay the facts bare, it is important to give a background account of how some faceless individuals led by Dr Kaitoo as the ring leader have been trying to perpetually destabilise the peace f the town.

First of all, it is quite disgusting to state that some years ago this same Dr Kaitoo who is now destroying the name of the town, wanted to be nominated as a chief when the position became vacant following the demise of the then chief.

However, he lost out completely due to the fact that he does not have any lineage and linkage to the Ekwamkrom Stool which is only ascended by true and legitimate royals of the Aboradze family of the town.

Following this disgraceful journey he took and the expectant results that stared at him in the face, Dr Kaitoo has become bitter and disappointed as a native.

Due to this, he has refused to recognise the chief of the town as well as any other traditional authorities and their powers claiming there is no chief in the town.

It must be mentioned that the Ebenezer Methodist Church in Ekwamkrom which is an embodiment of the chiefdom of the town, celebrated its one hundred years anniversary.

In the process, this same Dr Kaitoo who is a member of the church, brought about twenty soldiers to the town who harassed a lot of the people for absolutely no reason.

The soldiers came to town because Dr Kaitoo wanted to prevent the current chief who is a member of the church from attending the programme.

When the Member of Parliament for the area, Honourable Naana Ayiah Quansah enquired about the mission of the soldiers, it is alleged that the soldiers said they came from “Jubilee House” and have come to maintain law and order.

Recently, the same Dr Kaitoo was bereaved when he lost some family members of his but when it was time for their funeral, he clandestinely refused to recognise the chief, Nana Ekwam X as well as the traditional authorities and therefore did not perform any of the traditional rites as required by the long-standing tradition of Ekwamkrom.

During the funeral which was held on 30th April to 1st May, another set of soldiers allegedly deployed through his acclaimed political connections, stormed the community and assaulted some of the youths without any provocation.

The youths, basically football enthusiasts, were on the community football park dressing the pitch for a match but the soldiers molested them heavily and later sent them to Swedru Police station where they were detained for days
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Their crime was that Dr Kaitoo who has been bragging that he is “well connected to top politicians”, has also planned to hold his funeral on the same football field which is an asset of the community under the same chief he does not recognise.

The point here is that why did Dr Kaitoo fail to inform the footballers about his plans to use the park but with the help of his alleged “top figures” brought in the military to assault them as if they (footballers) were militants captured at a war front?

They were detained from Friday to Sunday and after two months, another two people were arrested and kept for two weeks without any justification

At this point, one cannot help but instructively state that Dr Kaitoo is making the government of the day as well as the Military High Command unpopular in the town and its adjoining communities.

The Military High Command must therefore investigate to know who and who are behind the deployment of soldiers to the town and what has been the motive behind such deployments.

The government must also do well to investigate Dr Kaitoo because his proclamations that he is well connected to “high profile government officials” who can supply him with soldiers at any time he wants is severely damaging the image of the government’s party.

For the records, it is imperative to mention that Nana Ekwamkrom X is the legitimate and the only recognise chief of Gomoa Ekwamkrom.

During the 2020 electioneering campaign, the vice president Dr Bawomia visited Gomoa Central and specifically came to Gomoa Ekwam as part of his tour.

It is instructive to state that even Dr Mahamudu Bawumia paid a courtesy call on the chiefs of Gomoa Central, he did not snub Nana Ekwam X and this was not just done but due process was followed as custom and tradition demand.

It must be categorically emphasised that at a durbar held in honour of Dr Bawomia at Ekwamkrom park, it was Nana Ekwam X who addressed him.

It is therefore quite strange that Dr Kaitoo has decided to have no respect for the respected chief and drag the name of the ruling government into his clandestine ploys to destabilise the peace of the town

Since a word to the wise is always enough, it must be repeated here and categorically that Dr Kaitoo is making the ruling government unpopular with his allegations that top government officials are behind his military activities in the community.

The earlier he is investigated to halt his military deployment to the town and the wanton torture of the citizenry, the better it would be to safeguard the peace of the town.

By Evans Kobbina Ebo Essuman.

A Concerned Citizen