No country worth her salt would allow her frontiers to be breached by bad foreign elements with the connivance of locals.
Unfortunately Ghana is experiencing an unprecedented abuse of her borders with the painful connivance of her own citizens who place their individual interests above the nation’s.
Unapproved routes between Ghana and Togo in the Aflao area have for many years being used by smugglers of both humans and goods much to the detriment of the country’s security and economy.
While the security of the country is of essence, the economy is another area we cannot afford to toy with. In the area of security we cannot pretend not to know what some West African countries are experiencing at the hands of both criminal elements and religious extremists who are currently prosecuting an intractable insurgency in such areas.
Appropriate taxes must be paid for goods brought into the country and so to allow smugglers to continue their activities unhindered should not become a norm.
The story which unfolded at the Aflao area a few days ago when local immigration officers and others were going to work calls for immediate response. They were attacked at different points along the unapproved routes; tyres of their official vehicles deflated and suspects given safe havens by these elements.
The excuse by the locals that their means of livelihood is being denied them is outright nonsense. Must we as a nation allow criminals and even religious extremists to come into the country and compromise our security simply because locals in frontier towns want to continue to engage in human and goods smuggling as a means of their livelihood?
Governments exist to run countries: existing security agencies are charged with enforcing the law and protecting our frontiers so that unwanted persons do not have access to our country and harm out interest. This assignment should not be compromised.
A leader insists on having the laws work. No President would allow the kind of nonsense which occurred along the unapproved routes to continue. We are relieved, however, that government is viewing the misconduct of the locals in the Aflao area with a view to stopping it forthwith.
The attack on immigration officers with clubs and other dangerous implements is unacceptable. The chiefs and other important persons in those areas must be engaged and educated about the importance of the security of the state.
It would appear that some of the residents in these border areas do not understand what the security of a country entails and the repercussions of an overrun security system.
By the action of the irresponsible persons who it would appear are not ready to come off their bad ways, our national security apparatus would have to review the situation with a view to coming up with an appropriate response.
Even more serious was the report that some bad elements when they were chased sneaked into the seeming welcoming hands of Togolese security agents.
We must exert our authority as a sovereign nation capable of policing our borders.
Considering the kind of persons who come into the country using obviously unapproved routes, it can only be imagined the danger we are being exposed to.
The arming of our immigration officers, which has now been approved by Parliament, can no longer be ignored. Without firearms, they would be unable to discharge their duties without putting themselves in the line of fire of smugglers and other bad elements.