Ebenezer Kwaku Addo
Did the Asutifi North Member of Parliament (MP) lead a group of youth to besiege the Hwidiem Police Station where soldiers of National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) were holed in after coming under an imminent attack?
That is a million dollar question which investigators dealing with the allegation should be able to tell Ghanaians by the time they are done with the assignment.
This is a serious assignment because it is coming at a time when Ghanaians want to gauge the level of government commitment to the galamsey fight; there are doubts about such commitment. It behooves government therefore to lap on such occurrence to prove the skeptics wrong and to let justice take its course, regardless of whose ox is gored.
The MP, Ebenezer Kwaku Addo, who is reported to have been invited by the police to assist in investigations into the case, will do this country and the anti-galamsey crusade good if he does not act in any manner which would obstruct the course of justice.
If indeed he led a group of machomen to go and deal with the soldiers who had only done their job of seizing gadgets used for galamsey activities, then an auspicious opportunity has reared its head for the government to showcase its commitment to fighting illegal mining.
The many talks and promises to deal head-on with galamsey would come to naught when after such threats suspects are not sincerely investigated and prosecuted accordingly in consonance with the law.
A scenario where citizens do not trust government’s commitment to dealing with a societal canker such as galamsey is dangerous, because it affects the foundation of governance. It does not make government look good in the eyes of citizens, the implications of which are not far-fetched.
The MP should be given fair hearing, including others related to the lawlessness which is the subject of this leader.
We are appalled that things are now taking this inappropriate dimension in our so-called fight against galamsey, where security personnel are threatened.
We cannot but express concern that even after the dastardly development, those who could have assisted further in the supposed ongoing investigations are said to have fled.
Should that be the case, someone should have assisted the suspects to flee, especially since information also has it that some of them are foreigners.
Managing the case under review properly without obstruction of course from the corridors of power will determine whether or not security personnel assigned such operations will be able to discharge the orders wholeheartedly, confident that when they make arrests they would not be made to let go the suspects.