Enforce laws without fear or favour - Lecturer urges law enforcement agencies
The Head of the Department of Peace Studies of the University of Cape Coast (UCC), Dr Patrick Osei-Kufour, has called on law enforcement agencies to enforce the law without fear or favour to prevent politicians from perpetrating acts of violence with impunity.
He said if security agencies used different standards for enforcing the law on different folks, the country was headed for chaos.
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Tension
In an interview with the Daily Graphic, Dr Osei-Kufour said the growing tensions in parts of the country had been created by the increasing mistrust in the fairness of the state institutions in the execution of their duties.
He said it was becoming increasingly worrying that politicians, especially those seeking elective positions, engaged the services of well-built men (machomen) and armed them as escorts.
Dr Osei-Kufour said such escorts were the sources of some of the conflicts that occur before, during and after elections.
Speaking on the Awutu Senya East scuffle that led to the Member of Parliament for the area, Mrs Hawa Koomson, firing a gun near a registration centre, Dr Osei-Kufour said the act was uncalled for.
Mrs Hawa Koomson, who is also the Minister for Special Development Initiatives, admitted to firing shots at the Steps to Christ Centre in her constituency during one of her monitoring visits to the centre during the ongoing registration exercise.
She justified her possessing a firearm to protect herself as a Member of Parliament.
Politics essential
Dr Osei-Kufour indicated that while politics was a commendable process that thrived on peaceful discourse and dialogue, it was only useful if such resulted in optimal decision making that would benefit society and accelerate its development.
He, however, said the nation’s politicians were gradually dividing the country along political lines for their own selfish gains and failing to support the nation’s institutions to work as they should.
“Even the traditional authorities we know who were the drivers of unity in the communities have all aligned themselves to one political party or the other and this is worrying,” he stated.
Dr Osei-Kufour said it was unbelievable how politicians created a lot of tension between their followers while they cordially relate behind the scene.
“They portray discord to create tensions for their own interest and behave otherwise when they are together. This is not right,” he stated. - #GhanaVotes2020#
