GHANA GRADUALLY BECOMING FERTILE FOR
SEEDS OF TERRORISM
Anytime
terrorist activities raid lives and properties in other parts of the world, the
reactions from Ghanaians are always sympathetic. In conjunction are the strong
claims that Ghana is a peaceful and a God fearing country that cannot contain
insurgents of that nature.
I realized
those claims were weak when our neighboring country, Cote D’Ivoire, had its share
of the brutal cake. Ghanaians were alarmed. The reaction changed from the
perception that Ghana is a peaceful country to “God, please save Ghana”. The
fear was charged by Prophet T.B. Joshua’s prophecy that Ghana, spiritually, was
prone to rebel attacks in the following days.
But what is
the assurance that we can only be prone to visiting rebels and not the tendency
that we could equally breed one internally?
It is for a
fact that rebels do not breed from only volatile settlements. The major
catalysts necessary for their emergence are poverty, rising unemployment, a
sense of inequality and social injustice. Hence, they vent their anger on the
system through violence.
The aforementioned
catalysts live with us here in Ghana. So how safe is Ghana?
The savagery
behavior of the so called Delta Forces last week pinpoints clearly that Ghana
is gradually cultivating species of terrorism. If an illegal group of that
nature can rampage a court room and d cause mayhem with impunity, then we are
all sitting on a time bomb.
The reason
for their action is clear. These able-bodied men were recruited on the condition
that if they were able to defend the opposition to power, they would gain an
unquestionable entry into the various security services. After working hard to
see the party succeed, they are highly expectant and impatient to be fixed
somewhere. In this case, we see poverty and unemployment – a major catalyst for
terrorism.
I see their
behavior as natural. A hungry man is an angry man. The party on the other side
is inclined to play the ostrich because they feel indebted to them.
This is
where the police must take over neutrally and deal with them judiciously. This
is a serious case that must be treated as such. If the police and the ministry
of interior allow this to quench on political grounds as they traditionally do,
then heads must roll at the top. Ghana is bigger than political parties and
their alliances.
I don’t
think the suggestion that these politically aligned groups should be disbanded
is the solution to the problem. How can you disband a group that is not registered
and d is formed in secrecy? You rather need a strong, non-bias national
security to counter their operations. Once the system makes them powerless,
they will dissolve naturally.
Also, when
the police take sides and render opposition parties defenseless, they resort to
the services
of these thugs.
I suggest
that the IGP should not be a political appointment. The police should have
their own caucus that would periodically elect their IGP. Same applies to the
various security services. These amendments, if done, would do us a lot of good.
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