One of the many tenets of Democracy, the very system of governance Ghana has chosen is due process and respect for human dignity.
According to the principle of due process, matters must be resolved according to established rules and principles, and that individuals be treated fairly.
For this principle to prevail, the application of the rule of Law and established ethos must apply to everybody, laws should be known, predictable, and impartial.
It is against this backdrop that this paper particularly crunch at news about some overzealous military men stripping a Ghanaian musician off his pants very needless.
In a video that has since gone viral, the up-and-coming singer, Theo Versace was seen surrounded by some military men after they saw him wearing military camo pants.
The narration continued that while standing by his car, they demanded he take off his pants in the middle of the street.
The singer, who gave up his pants reluctantly, later got into his car and drove off after the encounter.
As at press time yesterday, indications are that the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) has issued a statement seeking to justify the actions of the soldiers.
Part of it read: ” GAF has commenced a series of exercises to curb the unlawful sale and use of military-pattern uniforms and accoutrements following their continuous use by persons and institutions, who have not been permitted to do so.”
The GAF statement added that the exercise is mostly targeted at people who use the uniforms to impersonate the military.
The GAF explained that the acts by such persons tarnish the image they have sought to build and also create a false sense of insecurity in the country.
“(The) GAF will not allow this situation to persist and will henceforth step up the arrests of these persons and deal with them drastically but in accordance with the due process of the law,” part of the statement read.
This is not the first time the military in an attempt to correct a supposed wrongdoing have ended up making more mistakes and in the process ridiculing itself.
We recall a scenario where some commercial drivers at the 37 Military Hospital in Accra for ‘loading’ at a supposed wrong place were marched to the hospital’s morgue to allegedly arrange Corpse as punishment.
In fact the paper can recall several use of wrong discretion on the part of the military in an attempt to correct a wrong.
The paper opines that the instant case is in a very bad taste and to say the least very shameful.
We find the face-saving statement as a ruse, and a mere cover up for this dastardly act.
In fact the refined thing to do was to escort the ‘culprit’ whose identity we now know as a musician home and seize the said dress if they were so minded to take it from him.
Afterall, Theo has a fixed place of abode and we know he is a musician we can trace and track so why the show of such chutzpah?
In our honest view, the military must apologise well and rather seek to endear itself to the public especially as the job of the military is evolving the world over.
This “order in disorder” is becoming one too many.