Alex Bossman Baafi

People who make living out of politics have to take their jobs very seriously. Politicians in this country from the president to the last person down the political ladder should be very mindful of their jobs and must execute them to the last atom of their strength because they are on the payroll of the state funded by the hard working taxpayers in this country. The same can be said about all who work and butter their bread from state institutions including the security services.

Perhaps the Mill – led NDC government had so soon forgotten the jobs they were mandated by the good people of this country to do. Otherwise, how can the government look on unconcerned to let the national security issues degenerating into the state of abyss, as we now have to contend with in the country. I know and hold fast to the fact that better national security issues represent one of the key benchmarks of good governance in every modern society. Many well-meaning people in this country are worried by the state of rising crime including armed robbery in the country without seeing any concrete measures from the government.

Fighting crime is a very tough job; it is not a picnic issue to be handled by anybody but a well-trained intelligent people who are determined to put the interest of the state first and sacrifice to work to protect lives and properties of the country. It calls for hard work and dedication to duty and not lackadaisical, lazy and try and error approach as we are witnessing currently in this country.

One of the ambitious key promises president Mills made during his campaign time and well articulated during his swearing in ceremony at the Independence Square was to make armed robbery outdated. To achieve such laudable feat is to resource the security agencies especially the Police Force and arm them to the teeth but the opposite is true in our country today. Appointing competent personnel in the topnotch security positions is part of the solution to the upsurge of crime wave problem.

One area of our national security where public trust has fallen to the lowest ebb is with the Police Service. Many believe the police have had a field day with lack of discipline with nobody holding anybody to account for breach of duties in the service. There are several instances where the inaction of the police had led to the lack of confidence completely in the service. For example, there was a case in Agbogloshie market where five persons were brutally murdered in broad day light in cold blood in the presence of the police but nobody was or had been arrested to answer charges because of some political consideration of certain political party?

Foot soldiers of the ruling NDC on numerous occasions in many places in the country had resorted to violence with impunity including killing and maiming people in order to seize toilets, cars and road and bridges tolls. They have used violent means to removing DCEs and MMCEs from office, brutalizing Ministers of states with clubs and machetes without police response whatsoever not to mention various mayhem caused by the ruling NDC sympathizers during the three by-elections including Atiwa. To all intent and purposes, the authorities had looked on unconcerned endorsing those unacceptable and unprofessional conducts of the police. In deed, many people are worried about how the government lacks the political will to do what it takes to enforce the laws and push the security agencies to protect the good people of this country against the current spate of lawlessness including armed robbery. Also, there is pick and choose and divide and rule tendencies on the part of the police as the government is seen to be in bed with the security agencies in order to use them to cow and intimidate their opposition counterparts on the other side of the political divide. Currently, the handling of the criminal complaints with particular reference to the “mass rape and robbery” case involving one Amina by the police is not helping matters as well.

This is to remind the Mill-led NDC government that one of the key mandates of the good of this country for which they were elected is to ensure freedom and justice for all as well as protect all citizens irrespective of their status, color, creed or political persuasions among others.

Let us face fact, even the rebelliousness of the State Prison Service against the state on their Single Spine Salaries alone should tell the government that there is break down of law and order in this country. More so, the unacceptable behaviour of NDC party foot soldiers, the waning of public confidence in the Police Service, the rise in crime including rape and armed robbery are all indications of the fact that we live in the state of national security failure and that people live in the state of insecurity. People are living in panic and fear apologies to the police for using their latest jargon. There had been several instances where ill-equipped police officers on duty had come under attack by criminals who had resulted to many deaths of our police officers. These speak volume about the decay of our national security state. Probably the government is waiting for God to come down from heaven to tell them that National security needs an overhaul before they will get it. In my opinion, the government will be irresponsible to look on until the whole country is plunged into chaos. Something must be done.

Email: abkbossman@yahoo.co.uk