Emmanuel Osei
The aftermath of the murder of Constable Emmanuel Osei and Afua Badu has opened the floodgates for all manner of doctrinaire security experts.
They are babbling about security matters as they largely query the law enforcement system and even government for the challenges.
This is not the time such display of ‘expertise’ by persons who only want to show off is being served Ghanaians.
Joining them are disgruntled politicians whose objective at this time is to make Ghanaians think they would have handled the security challenges better. Such cheap politics when the West African sub-region is confronted by a spate of insecurity challenges is irresponsible.
When it comes to security issues, all must join hands in addressing them.
It is instructive that the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has taken the onerous decision to tackle the security challenges now sweeping across the sub-region.
If this does not point at a common problem requiring a sub-regional approach we do not know what else is.
Sincerity in such matters will go a long way in having us unearth a solution and not hypocrisy and irresponsible remarks intended to achieve electoral mileage.
All we need now is credible information that will lead to the arrest of the criminals. That is the only way we can support our security agencies to score points for our general security.
Irrespective of the shortcomings of the Police Service which is a microcosm of the Ghanaian society, a police-less Ghana can only be imagined.
All we can do as Ghanaians is share security information with the police so that they can serve us better.
Criminals, we have always said, live among us. They do not live in the bush, a fact which presupposes that bad persons who live in our neighbourhoods are in most cases known by us. It behooves us to expose such bad persons albeit discretely to the security agencies.
The police too must manage such information confidentially. The public do not trust the police to manage such confidential information honestly. Many think that some bad cops would expose them when they report bad characters to them.
While the public should cooperate with the police to manage security, the latter too should be discrete about information so released to them.
As we discuss the challenges of security management, especially as it pertains to internal security, we should be mindful about demoralising our men and women in uniform who risk their lives on day and night patrols.
Some remarks related to internal security should be devoid of partisanship as are evident.