That was Sam George’s description of a lieutenant who he accused of harassing the people of his constituency over illegal sand winning.
A social media video showed the Communications Minister attacking a lieutenant for, as he put it, seizing a sand winner’s truck from the community and refusing to oblige the invitation of a Chief Superintendent of Police, probably the Divisional Commander for the Ningo-Prampram Division.
‘Power,’ as Lord Acton said in his famous quote, ‘Power Corrupts Absolutely.’ This has found an apt place in Sam George’s reaction when his people complained to him about a Lieutenant who took action against sand winners in his constituency during a legitimate operation.
Upon hearing same and not listening to the Lieutenant, he went hysterical spewing uncharitable words against a Commissioned Officer of the Armed Forces and even describing him as a thief who should be sacked by the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS).
Such display of arrogance has become the stock-in-trade of some government appointees, especially when they are in the midst of their constituents. They have forgotten so soon about the transience of power and how they struggled hard through chicanery to take over the reins of leadership.
We are not concerned about whatever the officer did or not do. One thing is clear though: the Lieutenant led a platoon as it were to stop illegal sand winning which, like galamsey, is threatening the environment of the Ningo-Prampram area.
The officer, who Sam George has vowed to have dismissed from the military, was only undertaking what he has been trained to do; carry out orders from his superiors, not doing which would be tantamount to insubordination.
We do not want to have an undisciplined Armed Forces, that is why the officer did what he had to do; make it impossible for the sand winners to continue with their illegal pastime.
Couldn’t the minister have engaged the Defence Minister to vent his displeasure rather than put the soldier on the spot the way he did?
No soldier can simply go to the armoury, pick a firearm and embark upon an unauthorised operation as it happened in Ningo-Prampram.
We have noticed the twisted outcome of the meeting Sam George had with the Defence Minister and the top hierarchy of the military.
The minister, who doubles as Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency, was expected to apologise to the Ghana Armed Forces for his inappropriate verbal attack on the officer and by extension the Ghana Armed Forces. His occasional claim of ‘holding the Armed Forces in high esteem’ when he rained invectives on the officer was an abortive attempt at pouring cold water over his misconduct which, as it was, touched on the integrity of the military.
Only an expression of remorse from the minister can put the matter to rest.
Citizens who sign up to serve the country in the colours deserve respect from us, especially government appointees. To seek to gain political leverage by lambasting the officer does not speak well of our politicians in government.
That is why we sympathise with the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) whose clear orders of stopping galamsey is being compromised by politicians at the throttle of governance.
Ministers such as the one under review do not deserve the offices they hold when they can indulge in the kind of language he used against the young officer.
Turning to social media to pretend that all has been well during a meeting with the military hierarchy is far from the truth.
We commend the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) for the role he played in calming the agitated tempers of soldiers.
To threaten soldiers who are deployed to Ningo-Prampram with ‘the law of the streets’ is to incite violence against soldiers, the repercussions of which can only be conjectured. The call on his people to abide by the law was an afterthought.
We remember what happened to the late Lt Col Mahama during an assignment outside Accra. Is that what Sam George is talking about when he threatened ‘the law of the streets?’
Let nothing happen to the officer whose service number, without GH, he has already put out on the public domain.