Ghanaians Simply Want To Live In A Nation In Which Public Safety Is Assured

That there  has been a wholesale injection into our national security apparatus, of a few thousand violence-prone individuals - previously associated with the pro-New Patriotic Party  (NPP) privately-owned security companies known as Delta Force and Invincible Forces -  is not in doubt. It is today's grim reality, alas.

As an old wag I know (who agrees with me that it is most probable  that the two Modernghana.com journalists who were recently arrested and detained by men from our national security set-up were physically  assaulted), said to me, "Kofi, almost every misbehaving 'police officer' or 'soldier' you come across, in the Ghana of today, is bound to be one of those thuggish-myrmidons."

The monstrous  and unpardonable decision to infiltrate our national security apparatus, with such dubious characters, is one of the most destabilising national-security-architecture strategies,  ever adopted, by any cabal of egregiously power-drunk-cum-power-hungry politicians, in the entire history of independent Ghana.

It is high treason that could end up destabilising our country during the November 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections  - in a repetition of the  Ayawaso  West  Wougon constituency by-election violence on a nationwide scale. And it  is most unfortunate that this prostitution of the noble and vital task of protecting our Republic,  has occurred  during the presidency of an internationally acknowledged  human rights advocate,  of the stature  of President Akufo-Addo.

No amount of spin by the smug minister for information, Hon. Kwadwo Oppong Nkrumah, can either explain away or hide  this shameful  development. Today's reality, is that we are witnessing the negative  impact on Ghanaian society, of the initial failure by the Akufo-Addo administration's appointees put in charge of national security, to restrain those blockheads, by publicly condemning their actions, and calling for their arrest by the Ghana Police Service when they started their campaign-of-violent-intimidation across Ghana.

It is that initial three-wise-monkeys  see-no-evil-hear-no-evil-say-no-evil stance, and failure to rein them in, shortly after the NPP came to power, which has led to the copycat acts of violent confrontations - in which agitated young people in tension-filled-communities across the country, assault police officers  and local officials in various districts - that is now sweeping across Ghana today.

The question is:  As a people, are we serious about transforming our nation into a prosperous and inclusive society in which no one is left behind that  no longer requires foreign-aid assistance? Hmmmm, Oman Ghana eyeasem o - asem kesie ebeba debi ankasa.

If indeed we are serious about moving forward as a people, then why should we continue to allow the intolerable situation - in which as a result of the  treasonable actions of a few powerful politicians, unrestrainable-thugs recruited into our nation's security agencies,  frequently brutalise  law-abiding citizens -  to  fester and persist? That is totally unacceptable. Period. Who born dog? (To  use Ghanaian pidgin English former President Rawlings employs  to express his disdain of third-rate individuals' actions and inactions.)

The time has now  come for our ruling élites to follow the example of the bold and imaginative  leadership of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), who publicly name and shame public-sector appointees, whose poor performance in office affects society negatively,  because they want the UAE's public-sector entities to be the best in the world - and  then promptly sack them.

To enable our country  make a fresh start, President Akufo-Addo  must demand the resignations of all those currently in charge of the entities that  constitute our national security set-up. Full stop. They have all failed him - and failed Mother Ghana too. Ordinary people in today's  Ghana, simply want to live in a nation in which public safety is assured, and no one is brutalised by national  security personnel. Surely, that is not asking too much of the men and women we elected to serve the good people of Ghana? Enough is enough. Haaba.  We rest our case.

Sent from Samsung tablet.