The lawlessness must stop now !

Lawlessness or the wanton disregard for the rule of law has reared its ugly head again, in spite of our credentials as the beacon of democracy on the continent. This unfortunate phenomenon has come about simply because of a change in government.

Last Friday, some irate members of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) who call themselves the Delta Force stormed the offices of the Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator in Kumasi, Mr George Adjei. In the course of their unlawful action, they smashed windows and doors before finally throwing Mr Adjei out of his office.

The group claimed that Mr Adjei was an outsider who was unknown to them and had neither been in the trenches nor suffered with them when the NPP was campaigning to win the 2016 general election.

Even if the allegations made by the group were true, their action was totally unacceptable, unwarranted and most unfortunate, in view of the fact that they did not go through the right channels to have their grievances heard.

What must be made clear to them is that it is the prerogative of the President to appoint any person he deems fit to occupy any position. If any person or group has any objection to the President’s appointment, nothing debars him/her from resorting to the appropriate channels to have the objection addressed.

The Daily Graphic finds the action of the Delta Force most objectionable and we urge all concerned Ghanaians to raise voices against this backward behaviour.

Our fear is that if these individuals do not respect their party leader, now the President, then we can imagine what they can do to ordinary citizens as and when they deem fit.

We join other groups to prevail on the President to stamp his authority as the leader of the country in this regard because the nation and the whole world are looking up to him, as the Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces, to bring this lawlessness to an end.

The security services, having acted professionally most of the time, could do better. They should act swiftly to contain the excesses of groups associated with political parties. They should not allow such politically coloured actions to fester without taking independent action to resolutely deal with those behind them. Such people, in spite of their political affiliations, must no longer be treated with kid gloves.

Since the beginning of the Fourth Republic, the security agencies have always played politics with such actions and people. The earlier they lived up to expectation, the better. The nation cannot allow these few lawless characters  to create unnecessary tension all over the country in the name of politics.

Ghana has come too far with its democratic dispensation to allow a few people to have their way just because they disagree with an action from a legitimate source.

Those who have to take action must do so now to save the country from further disgrace.