Board to investigate Kamina Barracks shooting (Centre Spread)

Story: Michael Donkor
THE Military High Command is to set up a Board of Enquiry (BOD) to investigate the circumstances that led to the murder of Sergeant Stanley Afriyie of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) at the Kamina Barracks in Tamale last Tuesday. Although the police have arrested the suspect, Corporal Benjamin Mensah, the Director of the Public Relations Unit of the GAF, Col Wollanyo Nibo, said the military would use its internal mechanisms like the BOD to also investigate the matter.
He said the board was expected to make findings, opinions and recommendations to the Chief of the Defence Staff.
In an interview, Col Nibo said if found culpable of the offence, Corporal Mensah could be released from the GAF.
Meanwhile, the relatives of the late Sergeant Afriyie who sustained gunshot wounds during the incident have been flown to the 37 Military Hospital and they are responding to treatment.
Corporal Mensah went on a shooting spree and killed Sergeant Afriyie at the Kamina Barracks in Tamale. In the process, he seriously wounded the wife and daughter of Sergeant Afriyie.
He was apprehended by some residents of Zogyuri, near the barracks.
The incident, which occurred on Tuesday, sent shock waves through the hitherto serene military vicinity and surrounding communities.
A source at the barracks told the Daily Graphic that money could be the cause of Corporal Mensah’s action.
It was alleged that Sergeant Afriyie owed Corporal Mensah an undisclosed amount of money which had remained unpaid over a period.
According to the source, efforts by Corporal Mensah to retrieve his money had not been successful, resulting in a heated argument between them last Tuesday.
Some military officers described the incident as most unfortunate and an affront to the dictates of strict military regulations that guided the conduct of personnel and their families at the barracks.
Sergeant Afriyie’s body has been deposited at the morgue of the Tamale Regional Hospital awaiting autopsy.