Carl Jung, one of the fathers of psychology, once observed that “people cannot stand
too much reality.” To politicians, what this means is that to win power, or to retain it,
the plain truth must never be told to the electorate about any situation. This appeared
to be the case with some politicians when they promised voters to “make armed
robbery a thing of the past” if voted into power. Now, two years after making the
pledge, armed robbery not only continues to be perpetrated with impunity, it has
evolved into a sophisticated culture that is brazenly challenging virtue for social space
on equal terms. Indeed, the current situation is nothing but a disappointing cartoon of
the El Dorado that was promised to us.

Though no one can be certain what fraction of our population armed robbers
constitute, our perception – the perception that assures narcotic relief from fear and
panic and also accords with our definition of reality - is that they represent an
insignificant proportion of civil society. Nobody appears to be contemplating that
given their Fibonacci rate of growth, armed robbers might outnumber policemen in
our country in just a decade or less, or that the new oil economy will be a catalyst in
their proliferation. But while we remain oblivious to these concerns, armed robbers,
highly expectant as the rest of us about the approaching “golden age of oil,” might be
recruiting and training scores of desperadoes, who, incensed by the vile blows and
buffets of economic hardship, might be willing to bet their lives on any adventure to
secure their “10% share of oil revenues.” If the emergence of psychopathic
megalomaniacs of the likes of Johnson Kombian on the heels of the incarceration of
Ata Ayi, the notorious poster child of homegrown armed robbery, is any precursor to
the future, our Palestinian version of the battle against armed robbery on Ghanaian
soil might have just begun.

Many years after their perpetration, the mysteries surrounding several dastardly armed
robberies remain unraveled. Worst, some of their perpetrators are either unknown or
still at large. The frightening prospect of these criminals dwelling amongst us, and the
possibility that they might use their ill-gotten wealth and influence to establish a
mafia to protect their interests and perpetrate crimes on a grander scale, must be of
serious concern to those who have pledged to eradicate armed robbery from our land.
Let our politicians first begin by exposing the phantoms behind every unsolved
robbery case that occurred and the so-called “contract killings,” for they might be the
earliest incarnations of the mafia. Until they commit to and succeed at this task, the
promise to make armed robbery a thing of the past will simply pass as noisy rhetoric
and agitprop. Whether this objective can be achieved before 2012, the next decade or
in a half-century or more is left for the public to decide.
Credit the creativity and fertile imagination of armed robbers for the other reason why
armed robbery will never be a thing of the past. For one thing, armed robbers never
seem to run out of protean strategies to keep them a step ahead of everyone else in
their game. No sooner has a group of robbers been killed or arrested than another
succeeds on their mission with devilish distinction, inspiring yet another group with
their enthusiasm and diabolism. Frankly, I cannot sometimes hide my “admiration”
for the manner in which robberies are conducted. Let people understand - before they
write me off as a psychopath, terrorist, buccaneer, megalomaniac, scalawag, hoodlum,
villain, bed-wetter, and altogether callous and insensitive – that my wife was robbed
at gunpoint in front of my kids last year. You probably never heard about it nor saw
my tears because it was not in the news and my crying was done in the rain. But if
robbers can fake a call to the police about a fictitious strike on one part of Adenta
while they actually attack another part, if they intentionally and repeatedly trigger
your car alarm until you get convinced that nothing but the wind is responsible for the
nuisance and you step out to disable it – just to get some sleep – only to be seized at
gunpoint and marched inside your impregnable fortress, you cannot fail to show
respect for their prowess.
Notwithstanding the rising social headache over armed robbery, all we’re hearing is
that statistics on the vexed culture is trending downwards. Interestingly, the Police
Service, the institution that might be indicted by the records, is the one that is
churning out, analyzing and interpreting the statistics. At the risk of displaying
academic pomposity, let everyone know about my profound contempt for their poorly
microwaved data and the misleading interpretations fed to a public malnourished on
phony statistical bombast. Let those who are reassured by statistics from the police
understand that armed robbery has its own rhythm. There will be periods when it will
move at the pace of a sonata; there will be times when it will be conducted with the
crescendo of a cantata; and there will be seasons when it will rise to the tempo of an
allegro, but there will never be total silence and peace forever.
From another perspective the armed robbery problem behaves like the financial
markets. It has its bull and bear phases, as well as corrections or consolidations.
Consolidations are the periods when armed robbers rest temporarily from their
exploits and recalibrate their strategies. Watchful citizens never misinterpret this to
mean a reduction in robbery cases. Rather, they take measures to prepare for the next
onslaught.
Perhaps, the parable of the Good Samaritan should humble politicians in our country
and make them admit that since armed robbery predates the time of Christ, no person
can make it the subject of archeological study in a mere presidential term.
Finally, let me end by saying that if this exposition of the realities of our times has
caused you fear and panic, I plead guilty as charged before the court of public
opinion; I would be happy to be the protomartyr for my views, views that I consider
pro bono publico, than to remain alive and be silent about lies from any quarters.

Author: Patrick A. Yeboah;
Email: owura_pat@yahoo.com