No responsible person will disagree with the President’s position that the attackers of the Lower Dixcove chief be arrested and, of course, taken through due legal process for suspects of criminal acts.
In any case, even if the President had not spoken about the subject, the law enforcement apparatus would have taken the necessary and appropriate action.
Those who engage in criminalities must not be spared and pampered because doing so would only encourage others to follow suit.
The chieftaincy institution in the country and elsewhere represents the heritage of the people. In our circumstances in Ghana, all the ethnic groupings hold the institution in high esteem something observed by the colonialists when they touched base with our part of the world for the first time.
It was this recognition which led to their dealings with the chiefs as the first port of call when they made their advent to the shores of the Gold Coast. In a technology-driven world today, we allow this institution to suffer from evil-minded persons at our peril.
It is the last bastion of our heritage and so anything that threatens or compromises its integrity must be fought tooth and nail. The President could not have asked for anything less for those who abducted the chief and humiliated him the way they did.
It is the institution which the chief represents which was debased and not the personality. We shudder to think how the abominable action would impact on the image of chieftaincy especially in the Dixcove area. The story would have hit the international worldwide web, with its repercussions beyond our borders unknown to us at the moment.
Whatever entered the minds of those behind the appalling act is something which must be interrogated.
Defrocking an ordinary man on the street cannot be acceptable, let alone a chief. The kidnapping element worsens the case which is why no stone must be left unturned in the quest for all details about the criminality.
We can hardly recall any such abominable act taking place anywhere in recent times. It is for this reason that we ask that action be taken swiftly against those who took part in the reprehensible act so that the appropriate signals will be transmitted to others who may find the piece of nonsense attractive.
When the underlying factor is determined, same must be tackled head-on so that the imbroglio does not resurface.
A reprisal attack could be planned by the others who are by now embittered about the crude manner in which their chief was handled.
We stand against any intervention that seeks to stop the law from taking its course.
Our country is a civilized one where crude approach to issues such as the Lower Dixcove case has no place.