Protecting law and order
“No matter who you are or what you intend to do, you should not exceed the boundaries of rule of law” – Li Keqiang. There is a difference between a civilian and military rule in any dispensation of governance.
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Benazir Bhutto said: “Military dictatorship is born from the power of the gun, and so it undermines the concept of the rule of law and gives birth to a culture of might, a culture of weapons, violence and intolerance.”
Ghana has come a long way to achieving an enviable record of being a beacon of hope in democratic governance to, especially, the Sub-Saharan African region. The enviable credential shoots Ghana unto the universal screen to possibly woo investors into her fold.
This should be the weighing scale on which the citizens must measure their democratic credentials to protect its beauty and admiration, but not to sacrifice sentiments on the altar of violence in any form or shape. There is no violence justifiable in a democratic country that has embraced the rule of law.
The danger to democracy is, citizens taking the law into their own hands to invade the very institution mandated to administer justice. When such institution is violated or subjected to contempt, that is the extremism to breaking the walls of democracy and rule of law into irreparable debris.
Vigilante groups
Let us ponder over the following questions:
Has Ghana cut her nose to spite her face by looking on while vigilante groups affiliated to political parties are formed? Is there the need for vigilante groupings when there is an institution mandated to maintain law and order? What are the vigilante groupings protecting? Who are they protecting? What power do they have to have had the cannot-be-imagined guts to have invaded the law abode to free their accomplices? What power do they have to have whisked out of office the president’s legally appointed personnel?
Is it legal for political parties to have internal security arrangements? The vigilante groupings such as Al-qaeda, Delta Force, Invincible Forces, Azorka Boys and others are affiliated to political parties. What is the purpose?
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These vigilantes have harassed, embarrassed and beaten people with or without the orders of their political shepherds. Sad to say that it is as if there is no security in this country to forestall the activities of these groupings.
Answering questions recently on the floor of parliament, the Minister of National Security, Mr Albert Kan Dapaah, explained that the vigilante groups could not be disbanded, because they were not registered groupings. The minister hit the nail right on the head within the confines of legality. A group that is not legally registered cannot be legally disbanded. However, there are ways and means to rid the country of such illegal groupings that are now taking the law into their own hands with impunity and guts.
Boko Haram and Al-Shabab in other countries and other militant groupings are not legally registered, but security intelligence efforts are being made to forestall their operations.
A country where rule of law is upheld in high esteem must not condone even the existence of such groupings in the midst of legally mandated security agencies.
Impunity
The irony is that though there were excesses against the judiciary in Ghana’s military era, such impunity and guts of invading a law court, even by soldiers to free accomplices, never happened. However, in a democratic governance where rule of law abounds, civilians have invaded the law court during proceedings. That is unprecedented.
Ghana must endeavour to safeguard and uphold the rule of law to forestall such occurrences in future.
The repercussions of such untoward action could spell doom for the country. It expels investors and brews chaos and anarchy.
It must be noted that the path of democracy Ghana has chosen can only be sustained when the justice system, media, security and all stakeholders purge themselves of any crook elements and fully embrace the rule of law contained in the statutory books of this noble country.
The rule of law does not only stem out of the judiciary, but also cuts across all areas of endeavours starting from the nuclear and extended families, institutions, the Three Arms of Government including the Fourth Estate of the Realm (media).
When all these stakeholders execute their various functions in the spirit of truth, fairness and firmness, such concerted efforts alone can ensure the true spirit of democracy and peace Ghana so cherishes.
The security agencies and political parties are a unifying factor to protect the rule of law. The loyalty of the security plays a pivotal role in sustaining the rule of law. There is a realism that some politicians are taking undue advantage of the vulnerability of the youth to exploit them for their selfish gains.
The President’s call to maintain law and order must be heeded.
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