Last Tuesday, the Asantehene hosted a critical forum to have political leaders sign an undertaking to keep the peace during and after the December 7 elections. The King and others who supported him to organize the event deserve kudos for their sense of patriotism.
Auspiciously, over a dozen retired generals also organized a press conference yesterday to caution security personnel to refrain from dancing to the tune of self-seeking politicians whose overtures they should ignore.
Doing so, they cautioned, could throw the country into an avoidable security challenge whose fallouts would not be selective. We entreat all who have a role to play in maintaining law and order to live up to expectation when they fall in for the election duties.
We were particularly excited about the presence of the security chiefs during the Kumasi Declaration; more so since Ghanaians look up to the officers and men they command to maintain law and order.
The fear of police and military uniforms being used by so-called Yaw Boateng Gyan party activists for ballot box snatching is no hoax, especially since the party organizer admitted to being the source of the dastardly conversation.
Retired generals have never taken such interest in a looming security challenge and we are hopeful that their intervention, serious as it is, would discourage those with the diabolic intention from prosecuting their demonic agenda.
Our apprehension is premised on the abysmal performance of security agents in previous electoral exercises across the country and the subsequent loss of confidence in them by Ghanaians.
Indeed, our internal security managers have been found wanting in the application of the lessons they learnt in crowd control, internal security operations (ISO) and other-related issues by mostly folding their arms when thugs descend upon political opponents. They have been overwhelmed by the influence of politicians seeking to cling on to power by all means and effectively losing their professionalism.
When security agencies allow themselves to be used by politicians as pawns in the game of destructive politics, they compromise their professionalism and respect.
We were fascinated by the delivery of Mr. Paul Quaye, IGP, at the Kumasi Declaration. As the head of the Police, most people took his assurance with a pinch of salt because he has failed so far to order investigations into cases of political murders.
There cannot be peace when those who are wronged by their political opponents fail to access justice because those at the helm of power deliberately deny them this right.
Adequate empirical evidence exists to support this assertion. A few years ago, some NPP supporters were murdered at the Agbogbloshie Market close to a police station. No arrests were made and those suspected to have committed the crime still walk around displaying the colours of a political party.
When impunity takes centre stage in governance, justice, the cornerstone of good governance, loses power and falls. We are in a country where belonging to ruling parties ensures immunity from arrests and even prosecution.
There are four NPP supporters still in detention somewhere in the Northern Region as justice continues to elude them because powerful politicians whose party is in power want them to languish in prison.
The list of instances of impunity is endless and unless these are stemmed by the security agencies, the peace we continue to dangle could be a mirage.
