If the authorities charged with the responsibility of securing the country at the policy level want to be taken seriously, they must gird their loins and show the keenness to act, when necessary, to prevent chaos.
They must also conduct themselves in a manner which would not expose their underbelly for public opprobrium, as one of them has done now.
The dust which was generated by the Talensi by-election having almost settled down, we are in a better position to do a post-mortem of what caused the avoidable mayhem which beclouded what was turning out to be a peaceful electoral exercise.
What better reason to do so than after the Mark Woyongo defence of the assault on some NPP executives by the Tamale-based Azorka boys. We did not want to believe the allegation that the assault was perpetrated at the instance of the interior minister until his Ultimate FM radio interview gave credence to it.
He is reported to have said that “violence begets violence,” an apt evidence that the thugs descended upon their prey in his presence. For them to have the effrontery to do what they did in the presence of the man whose ministry oversees the law enforcement agencies in the country underscores his engineering of the acts of criminality.
Such retrogressive actions at the instance of top government officials can only happen in a country like ours where impunity is cornerstone of those at the helm.
We have information about how the intervention of such government appointees has led to the freedom of suspects related to the mayhem in Talensi. We stand to be corrected on this score.
Where are the suspects behind the movement of weapons towards Talensi on the by-election day? When are they going to be arraigned? We can bet they would never see the inside of a courtroom over their gun-running efforts.
It is regrettable that in spite of the vigilance of the law enforcement agents in the outskirts of Talensi, firearms were still moved into the town – weapons which were used in firing shots in front of the NPP offices in the town. What is it about the NDC leadership and violence! For how long would they continue to tread on this path of backwardness?
The lone Talensi electoral exercise has shown that the incumbent government would do everything to gain leverage during polls. It might not be a policy but appointees who go brawny are surely going to be rewarded by the appointing officials.
Such officials, their status in government notwithstanding, will not speak out when the public order act is being breached, if such misconduct inures to their advantage.
Let Mark Woyongo note that political office and regimes are ephemeral. Players on the stage of life and its many departments must be mindful about the higher spiritual authority and let the fear of God guide their activities, especially when they are wielding power. The truth will be out someday by all means.
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