Opinions of Friday, 16 October 2020

Columnist: Daniel Yiadom Boakye

The murder of innocent people in Ghana: How many of 'the perpetrators must be brought to books' have we been able to bring to book?

The very first step to security is God and the second is the individual person The very first step to security is God and the second is the individual person

There has not been any shred of positive outcome to unravelling the killers of most victims popular or otherwise whether through armed robbery or contract killings under the pretext of robbery.

Globally, the criminals are always ahead of the security agencies because the security agencies are dealing with the human mind which is impossible to predetermine or tell what operation, where or when it is to be carried out without a tip off or an important lead given to them by a citizen in their area of jurisdiction.

The imperatives of the above have forced leaders especially of developed world to think outside the box to procure sophisticated gadgets and also install cameras at vantage points to effectively carry out forensic investigations with outcomes characterized by minimal margin of errors to boost the socio-politico-economic and other activities of the country and position it towards the path of the requisite development we are all yearning for.

Ghana however, seems to be using largely, an archaic investigation methodology that predates Adam and Eve, that investigation that requires the presence of an eye witness or a search for a person who would be grilled over a period of time for him or her to confess before people who are hell bent on swimming in the pool of criminality instead of a pool of water can be caught and punished to deter others.

The plethora of such examples of killings have given cause for eminent people including the president under whose tenure such heinous crimes were committed to sympathize with the bereaved families and the entire nation with a statement like ' the perpetrators must be brought to book'. One important question that requires answering is, how many of 'the perpetrators must be brought to books have we been able to bring to book?

The very first step to security is God and the second is the individual person who must calculate the moves of people around him or her, choose where and when to go or the appropriate time to travel and a host of others because, perish the thought, if someone kills him or her, no perpetrators would be found in the first place, talk less of bringing them to book!
Wo wu a, w'awu. Awudifoc no y3n nhu wcn!