The Inspector General of Police (IGP) last Monday demanded of police officers firmness in the enforcement of the law when the forthcoming elections are due.
It was an unnecessary directive intended to ostensibly assure Ghanaians that policemen would do their work professionally without favour since such firmness is a benchmark for professionalism in the police.
He sounded as though political interference in the performance of the work of the police would not be brooked. We dare ask whether he can, hand to the heart, stand up to the demand of a top ruling party politician to release from custody a detained activist or a machoman.
Let us expose the challenges militating against the smooth performance of police officers so that appropriate remedies can be applied for the good of all Ghanaians instead of such pretentious, for-the-cameras directives.
The Chief Constable should be telling us something exciting and new; such as how he seeks to regain the confidence of the public in the police to discharge their duties without apprehension.
Ample evidence abounds to show how the police have been unable to deal with defaulting politicians. When some NPP Dagomba boys were murdered in broad daylight in the vicinity of the Agbogbloshie Police Station by their NDC counterparts, the matter was dampened and eventually killed.
During the recent biometric registration exercise when some rogue party activists roamed some streets in the Odododiodio Constituency brandishing cutlasses and other offensive weapons, none of them was arrested and arraigned.
In yet another incident, a female parliamentary candidate of the NPP was assaulted and although the suspects were identified, the police could not act because the culprits were NDC persons.
The Atiwa, Chereponi and Akwatia by-elections saw the NDC in full flight, breaching the law with so-called machomen, as policemen in some instances claimed their duties were limited to watching the ballot boxes as ordered by their superiors.
The IGP should not forget that his compatriots are more discerning than in previous times and are able to identify what is an eye-service and what is not. Unfortunately, his headline-making rhetoric falls under the former and therefore devoid of veracity.
The integrity of the Police and other security agencies has been compromised by the incessant interference of politicians in power, a situation accentuated now more than ever before.
The Police deliberately tuned off its ears to the reckless and dangerous game-plan of the NDC as spewed out by party organizer Yaw Boateng Gyan. He is a big ruling party man and therefore above the law somewhat. That is the reality, Chief Constable. We nevertheless wish him Godspeed as he ostensibly girds his loins for the 2012 election project. Firmness and professionalism, no matter whose ox is gored? Tell that to the marines, old boy.
<<Print>>