Rev Prof Emmanuel Asante does more political talks than pursuing the mandate of the Ghana Peace Council.
His abhorrence for brokering peace in conflict-ridden zones of the country outweighs his passion for the occupation for which he draws emoluments from the state coffers. He might be doing these on purpose but we, as do other Ghanaians, understand his mission: it is anything but in the national interest which is why he deserves a national query.
We have taken note of his latest outburst about the state of security in the country which by implication is a query of the stewardship of the President and his team of appointees. ‘I am not safe in Ghana’ as he spewed it is so hypocritically; we wish he could take leave of the country should the exit offer him the standard of safety he prefers to the one we are enjoying today which we did not when his party was in power.
Such a warped conclusion from a man expected to spare the Peace Council of which he is a leader, the tongue-lashing he has attracted for it is not only unfortunate but deserving of outright reprehension. This is against the backdrop of his penchant for such mischievous interventions on the political space when his preferred party is not in power.
He fouls the political ambience with such remarks and flees from the ensuing dust so generated as he has done already.
Assuming the country is unsafe as he ostensibly claims, the most productive step to take would have been seeking audience with the Commander-In-Chief or even the Chairman of the Council of State and pouring out his heart with convincing recommendations. This recourse would not inure to the interest of the persons whose cause he is championing hence his abhorrence for it and preference for the Montie approach. The decent option is certainly not for him as that would deny him the propaganda leverage he so needs and desperately. We know him too well.
Gone are the days when he was hardly heard over glaring national issues created by the previous government’s actions or otherwise. His silence over the Talensi, Atiwa, Akwatia or even Chereponi and other national security breaches which pushed safety to be backburners have gone down in the annals of the Peace Council as dark chapters. Those were the most unsafe moments in our recent political history.
How safe is a country in which the rule of law has no place safe in the books, inapplicable and where land guards stand tall overshadowing the Police? Where was he when armed Chinese destroyed our water bodies as government looked elsewhere? Today, he says he is not safe. God save this country from so-called men of dignity whose proclivity for mendacity is indisputable.
The reason he is unsafe under the current political dispensation could be attributed to other factors such as the severance of the supply lines from Central government among other golden handshakes. It is unfortunate that the man of God and academic would deliberately make untoward headlines when comparatively we are enjoying a relative safety in which law enforcement agents would be ordered to arrest law breakers irrespective of their political affiliations.