National Security Embarrassment

National security management is fast becoming an embarrassment under the current coordinator. Now synonymous with Rambo-style misconduct, the national security outfit has continued to pander dangerously to the whims and dictates of the General Secretary of the ruling party. He is said to have ordered last week�s infamous deployment of operatives to the Supreme Court on an unsolicited mission to ostensibly protect the controversial pink sheets in the custody of the judiciary. The dust which the unsolicited action generated manifested in the flurry of vitriolic exchanges on the airwaves among various stakeholders including amazingly the retired Lt. Col Gbevlo-Lartey, who as a lawyer, should have been wary of the implications of the mission he directed. A very visible National Security Coordinator whose helplessness as the Garden City of Kumasi slips into a state of chaos with dozens of inexplicable murders dotting the diary of the CID in the regional capital, appears to have found solace in a reckless operation and a loud presence on social media. The spurious and pedantic arguments advanced for the unholy Supreme Court mission by the agitated coordinator only worsens the unsavoury situation. A palpable coordinated response to douse the confusion following the failed mission was too visible in the statement issued by the Police. A Police PRO who was alerted about the unfurling security drama by a radio station lied when he turned around to issue a statement to suggest that the law enforcement agents knew about the questionable failed mission. State agencies these days resort to lies when they are caught in embarrassing situations- an anomaly which questions the status of morality in such organizations where age-old ethos are becoming increasingly irrelevant. The bias of the Gbevlo-Lartey-led National Security Council is no longer in doubt. It is too clear to be a subject of an argument given the actions of the former military officer in his crazy haste to impress the President. The judiciary, we wish to remind the coordinator, is an independent arm of government operating strictly outside the ambit of the executive and the ruling party�s headquarters. Given also the sensitivity of the case at hand, it can only pass as crazy, when a party to the case in question orders national security operatives to go and render protection to such vital documents as the pink sheets. Doubtlessly, this can only be an invitation for chaos in a highly polarized country holding its breath for the outcome of the court case. Such a conduct of the security coordinator- working in tandem with the NDC General Secretary- exudes fetid smell to our political nostrils. It is important that we maintain confidence in the courts lest the untoward happens. This can only be achieved when such recklessness from Gbevlo-Lartey is stopped forthwith. The people of Ghana and the international community who are maintaining a keen eye on the proceedings in a technology-driven world, will also serve as judges of the outcome of the petition hearing. Any miscalculation by the judiciary or any individual will not serve our interest as a nation. The demeanour, body-language and remarks of the judges are being watched by most Ghanaians as they are transfixed to their television sets. It was relieving to learn that the strangers did not have access to the custody of the pink sheets. The repercussions of such an access could have been anything but acceptable and tranquil. As for the mention of Asiedu Nketia as the man who requested the ill-timed action, it can only be regarded as a cock-and-bull story. We pray that the judges who have found themselves by accident of history on the panel adjudicating this critical case will not allow themselves to be carried away, but do their duty to God and country without fear or favour. This is the only bulwark against political chaos and aloofness by citizens.