The Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, is getting special courtesy as a minister which is different from what his colleague ministers are getting.
In what many consider as blatant abuse of state power by the Akufo-Addo administration, Godfred Yeboah-Dame, has been given full military protection by the Ghana Armed Force (GAF), although many ministers are on police protection.
It is unclear, what the 41-year old man’s risk factors are to warrant the deployment of soldiers to protect him, aside being reported to have eaten under his immediate boss, the no nonsense Gloria Akuffo and gotten her replaced by President Akufo-Addo and his kitchen cabinet made of his family members from Kyebi in the Eastern Region.
The former Deputy Attorney-General, has for some time now been seen at public gatherings and functions, with a military bodyguard, giving him maximum protection, contrary to his initial denial at his Vetting in Parliament.
Mr Godfred Dame, it would be recalled, was evasive during his vetting when he was asked if he had a military officer as bodyguard.
However, photos of Mr Dame with his bodyguard fully dressed in a military uniform with a pistol by his side, have gone viral on various social media platforms; where the soldier was seen carrying the Minister’s bags and opening the car door for him like a civilian running errand boy duties.
Mr Godfred Dame’s recent outing with the soldier by his side was a visit to the Chief Imam, Sheikh Osman Sharubutu on Tuesday, May 18.
He was with Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Amadu Tanko, the Solicitor-General, Helen Akpene Ziwu, leadership of the Forum of Ghanaian Muslim Lawyers and other high ranking lawyers to honour an invitation by the Muslim Cleric as part of efforts to engage selected opinion leaders on the brewing tension within the Muslim community.
The seeming tension is arising out of recent incidents in Ghana that suggest intolerance of Islamic practices by sections of the Ghanaian society.
The meeting is therefore to discuss and chart a path towards the amicable resolution of this and other related issues.
Many believe the manner in which core duties of the military have been reduced nowadays is unacceptable.
There was public uproar when ahead of the 2020 General Elections, heavily armed soldiers were deployed to the home and office Chairperson of Electoral Commission, Jean Adukwei Mensa, while others served as her bodyguards during the 2020 election petition at the Supreme Court.
Security capos told The Herald, the core mandate of the military is to protect and defend the territorial integrity of the country, which does not include being a bodyguard of civilian appointees of government.
The Herald is informed that apart from President Akufo-Addo, his Vice Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and Asantehene Otumfour Osei Tutu II who enjoy such military protection, it is against standard conventions to assign military officers as bodyguards to individuals.
Some have questioned the reason behind this decision since none of Mr Dame’s predecessors, including his former boss, Ms Gloria Akufo had been given this security arrangement at the time they served as Attorney-General and Minister for Justice.
Some have also argued that the growing trend, if not checked, could demoralize the police service since such security protections are mainly their preserve and core mandate.
This paper has observed that this is not the first time an incident like this is happening under this government.
During the hearing of the 2020 election petition, one of the military officers was seen carrying bags and documents of a private legal practitioner, Frank Davies, just because he was a member of President Akufo-Addo’s legal team.
