According to the President, the incident was most unfortunate and government will make sure it never happens again.
Nana Akufo-Addo said this when he called on the Overlord of Wa to commence his 2-day tour of the region.
According to the President, even though the Minister for Defence, the Minister for the Interior, as well as the hierarchy of the military have come to apologise to residents of Wa, and have taken measures to deal with the soldiers who perpetrated the act, he also deemed it necessary to come to Wa personally and render an apology.
“One of the fair reasons why I came, is because of the incident that occurred here in Wa between the garrison, some soldiers here and the people of Wa. The military leaders have been here and they have promised you that they will deal with those who were responsible.”
“I have come to add my voice to that of the soldiers, as well as the Minister for Defence, to say how sorry I am about the incident, and to let you know that we will do everything possible to make sure that such an incident is not repeated,” he said.
The President continued, “And I want to congratulate you on the very statesman-like pronouncements that you made on that occasion. You sure look like the senior traditional leader that you are.”
With the threat of terrorism real along the Ghana-Burkina Faso border, he noted that it is only the co-operation of the people of Wa and the security forces that will make it possible for Ghana to prevent terrorists from carrying out an attack in the country.
“So, I want to add my voice to yours in calling upon the people to continue to work closely with the security forces to make sure that we can keep the terrorist menace out of our country. And that means that we should not dwell too much on this incident that occurred. As human beings, mistakes occur. The important thing is how you correct them, and move forward,” the President said.
On July 1, 2023, a group of soldiers descended on residents of Wa and beat up anyone in sight, making some roll over in the streets while others were forced into drains over claims that an officer had had his phone stolen.