The Inspector General of Police (IGP) John Kudalor does not still get it.
It is unfortunate that after so much education on the importance of social media in the general milieu of freedom of expression and the emerging benefits, the chief law enforcement officer is still talking as if he has been bestowed with the task of determining what to shut down or not on Election Day.
Such powers are really beyond him, residing with those who hold the keys to the country’s overall national security: his being only a segment to be brusque about the matter.
Sadly when a representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations (UN) Dr. Mohammed Ibn Chambas expressed disapproval about the intention to shut down social media, his host, the IGP has pretended to have appreciated the importance of the social media in a modern democratic setting.
Unfortunately, after the departure of the UN chief’s representative, the Chief Constable is still toying with the impossibility in a country which is not Uganda but Ghana.
We have come a long way from the days of arbitrariness and cannot come to terms with what IGP Kudalor is still dreaming about.
Freedom of expression is one of the inalienable attributes of democracy which today encompasses social media.
Any attempt at denying the people of this country their freedoms, especially that of expression, would be tantamount to seeking to kill democracy which cannot be imagined, not at all.
Kudalor’s stubborn posture can only be attributed to a touch of conservativeness, which is not commensurate with modern day trends characterized by Whatssap, Facebook and other social media appendages.
For his information, no government is today left out of the modern realities of social media: the White House, Kremlin and others have hooked on to the good news.
It would appear that John Kudalor is even unaware about the Ghana Police Service’s efforts at staying abreast with the trending realities.
The antiquated days of the Olivetti and Imperial typewriters are gone forever, confined to the dusty rooms of technology museums somewhere in Europe.
Let him be real and update himself about the traits of the times rather than fight a losing battle with social media.
He can never win this war no matter how many fronts he opens.
Tayyib Erodogan of Turkey savoured the benefits of social media when through it he ordered his compatriots to hit the streets to protest an unfolding coup in that country.
They obliged his request and their sheer numbers overwhelmed those undertaking the takeover, thus scuttling it.
Ghana should not be labeled anti-social media because she is not Uganda.
Social media, regardless of its challenges, is an integral part of the media landscape today, a reality we cannot sweep under the carpet.