President John Mahama
Determining the cost of wasting the taxpayer’s money to power two or even more high fuel-consuming vehicles for a trip to Agona Swedru to arrest a person because he posted ‘Dumsor Is Back’ on social media will be a worthwhile venture.
We can guess that the aforementioned vehicles were fully fueled for the useless mission; it achieved nothing besides showing the New Patriotic Party (NPP) that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) wield power and can do as they please. Tomorrow is pregnant.
Who authorised the trip from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) headquarters or the Bureau of National Intelligence (BNI) to Agona Swedru simply to arrest an innocuous citizen? The expended fuel could have been enough to power a couple of ambulances to convey patients from their sick beds to nearby hospitals for emergency attention. Yet same has been provided for exuberant young security officers to go and flex their muscles in Agona Swedru.
Even more irritating was when one of the officers aimed his firearm on a man who asked where they were taking David Essandoh to. If only he dared pulled the trigger, hell, we bet, would have broken loose in this country.
So much avoidable noise was generated by the crude antiquated communist tactic very much loved by a party with Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) antecedent.
For us as Ghanaians, it was an important measure of how intolerant the President is, unless he wants to feign ignorance of what his appointees are doing at the BNI and CID headquarters or even Signals Bureau.
He once wrote to President Akufo-Addo nailing him for acts which, in his estimation, threatened free speech under his watch. If he did so because Akufo-Addo was in charge, then it presupposes that he too is behind the incessant instances of Rambo-style arrests.
After the government image-denting assault on the rule of law was played out, the constituency organiser was released on bail; end of a boring political drama.
This is not the first time such nonsense has been played out and would not be the last, because it constitutes a part and parcel of the NDC government modus operandi.
The President appears to relish this entry from the communist rulebook, otherwise he would not have recorded so many such infractions within close to a year and a half into his tenure.
He cannot be absolved from these acts of recklessness when security personnel are ordered to play these games with the freedoms of citizens who are simply exercising their rights to the freedom of speech.
Those officers could have been deployed to Bawku to track down persons illegally possessing firearms.
Let us be serious and stop this nonsense. Sixty-nine years of independence is a mature age for a nation like ours to conduct herself in conformity with civility and respect for the rule of law. In the coming weeks, they will enact another security drama with live ammo and rifles yet achieve nothing save growing hatred for a government listing badly in choppy political waters.