Impunity is the new rule of law!

“Ghanaians are becoming increasingly concerned about their security, due to the increasing levels of crime and lawlessness under the Mahama-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) government. Today Ghanaians do not feel safe.

The Mahama-led government has failed the people of Ghana in terms of security of the country and its citizens.

Our existing laws are largely not enforced, and when they are done, they are done selectively, often with much interference from the Executive.’’ - Chapter 14 of NPP 2016 manifesto

I am distraught today. I am very angry today. I am deeply disappointed today. As I write, 72 hours after the event, not a single top political office-holder has seen it fit to visit the village of Denkyira-Obuasi to see things for himself, if only to give the clearest indication to all and sundry that this country is working, is being led competently by competent people, and that the matter in hand is receiving consideration and attention from the highest levels of our government.

The President of Ghana was out of town, but the Vice-President, Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has been in town all this while. The ministers of the Interior, Defence, Lands and the Central Regional Minister, and their numerous deputies have not seen it fit to visit the crime scene to show the reality of our government to the whole world. No reason can persuade me that this oversight is not a deliberate dereliction of duty caused by the unique circumstances of the horrific death of Captain Maxwell Adam Mahama.

Change in government

So many unsavoury things have happened in this country relative to the change in government from January 7, 2017, that it would be fair to speculate that this may well be the principal political narrative of the tenure of the President Akufo-Addo government formed by the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

In all these, those who have appointed and anointed themselves as governance experts, think tankers and influential opinion leaders, have maintained a studied silence as if nothing is happening to our country, its institutions and its leaders.

Let me give a striking example; how many of the loud and abrasive womens’ groups have uttered a word so far condemning the despicable attack on a court in Kumasi manned by a woman magistrate who presided over aspects of the Delta Force fracas recently?

I can bet my last pesewa that if this had happened in the time of the previous government, we would all have been regaled ad nauseam with comparisons to the kidnapping and death of Mrs Cecilia Koranteng-Addow in June 1982, when we had a military regime in place.

I say political narrative because some of us have discovered these days that ascribing to different perspectives on events in Ghana as opposed to the official line is tagged political, as if that word is an insult. Ghana, this country, its people and its institutions constitute a polity.

We are not a Catholic convent, nor a Buddhist monastery, but a political entity. I was astonished to hear a whole professor of Political Science from the premier university in this country, Legon, advance the sickening and ridiculous theory that if you are a member of a defeated party in the polity, then somehow you are proscribed from participating in any discussion of matters of interest to Ghanaians.

I will seek the opportunity earliest for him to enlighten me and Ghanaians, as to the basis for this anti-intellectual, subjective and partisan theory of political discourse in a democracy, or any political system, for that matter. I really need that education, because he is a professor! 

Criminal act

Politically-inspired criminal acts and murders are far more serious and dangerous to Ghana than the corrupt acts of past regimes whose prosecution our government is resting its hopes on. Social media is a very good and useful source of information.

I note with amusement that with regard to this Captain Mahama case that government spokesmen are urging prosecution of the suspects based on online imagery and videos captured by bystanders, the exact same sort of evidence these spokesmen downplayed as irrelevant in earlier cases in Kumasi relative to the Delta Force.

This is not hypocrisy, but confusion arising out of a complete misunderstanding of what has happened to the political psyche of Ghanaians.

The threat to peace, security, and the ridiculous dismissal and withdrawal of cases from our courts constitute the political narrative of today. The vaunted rule of law which propelled President Akufo-Addo to power, and other flowery promises which secured victory for the NPP, have been overshadowed by the impunity which is the most obvious  state the country finds itself.

I am a Ghanaian. It is my duty to believe in my President.  He was called to the English Bar 46 years ago, and 42 years ago to the Ghana Bar, and has been a champion of the very antithesis of the things which have become the norm in this country under his presidency.

Galamsey connection

The several young men and women milling around the crime scene suggests strongly that they may all be engaged in the galamsey activities rife in the area. This feeds directly into the fertile speculation of the motives behind the death of this fine officer.

It also turns a straightforward case of lynching into an aspect of the anti-galamsey policies of the government. I have already written on that, and expressed my doubts as to the possible success of this policy.

It just happens that during the campaign last year, candidate, now President Akufo-Addo, was explicitly caught on tape disavowing the rumours that he would ban the practice. It also happens to be a fact that that area has voted for his party since 1992.

If the horrific and gruesome death of Captain Mahama puts an end to this cancerous narrative of impunity then he just may not have perished in vain. May he rest in perfect peace.

aburaepistle@hotmail.com