Media and Murder in Military Barracks: Sociological Analysis of the Murder of Isaah Mobila in the Northern Region of Ghana.

Abstract

Purpose: Military brutalities continue to occur in Africa notwithstanding a momentous drop in military coups. Military-civilian relations are still problematic and complex since in some cases civilians die in military custody. This article is a sociological study and analysis of how Ghana’s Convention Peoples Party’s Northern Regional Chairman, Issah Mobila was brutally murdered in military custody in Tamale, the Northern Regional capital and the effect the murder had on the family and the people of the Region. Methodology: The study was purely qualitative hence qualitative procedures and processes were used. Interview guides as well as observation were used for the primary data while the secondary data were sourced via internet and written documents like the newspapers. The data were thematically analysed and, in some cases, individual responses were quoted verbatim. Findings: The study asserted that Mobila was murdered by the military hence two of the military officers were convicted. The study also asserted that Mobila was wrongly accused by the security services and murdered in military custody. The study found that the family of the deceased continued to suffer psychological discomfort hence the elder’s son contemplated committing suicide. The Regional Security Council gave conflicting statements which angered the youth and the opinion leaders which created insecurity in the municipality resulting in hunger in the capital of Tamale as food sellers refused to sell for the fear that they might be killed. Also, the wives of the military men in the barracks also seized going to the market for fear of reprisal. Tamale therefore came to a standstill in the midst of heavy military patrols in the municipality. Media reportage was prominent as the murder issue was discussed thoroughly. Unique Contribution to Theory, Policy and Practice: This murder case was unprecedented in the history of the military in Tamale hence it provoked calls on government to ensure cordial and effective relationship between the civilian population and the military to obviate a recurrence. Constant lectures and dialogue on military-civilian relationship are being encouraged in order to strengthen coexistence between the military and the civilians.