Unfettered powers conferred on the President of the country by the 1992 have often hurt and haunted us as a country. We should not expect professionalism and distinguished service from state institutions like the Electoral Commission, Ghana Police Service, National Communication Authority, Ghana Health Service and Criminal Investigation Department, among others.
From day one, the appointment of the current CID Boss was surrounded with suspicion. This was the same woman whose voice was recorded by A Plus in the corruption and bribery scandal that rocked the Jubilee House. She was then the Deputy CID Boss. She claimed the voice was hers but was doctored. The said tape became subject of police investigation but nothing resulted from that investigation. Rather surprisingly, she was promoted to acting capacity as CID Boss and later confirmed as the substantive Boss. The same woman has been promoted twice in the police service since 2017 and now qualifies for the position of an IGP.
Judging by the actions and inactions of the CID Boss, a lot fly in the face of professionalism and competence. Her first major test of competence was the Kwesi Nyantakyi saga after the Anas Number 12 exposé. To date we don’t fully know the facts of that investigation.
Second, her handling of the kidnap debacle is nothing less than abysmal. She claimed in a televised press conference that the CID knew the whereabouts of the kidnapped girls and promised the girls would be reunited with their families “soon”. After more than one month, without giving an update on the whereabouts of the missing girls, she now claims she has information that Ofosu Ampofo, the chairman of NDC is allegedly behind market fires and kidnapping of the girls. If Ofosu Ampofo is behind these heinous crimes, he should be arrested immediately and prosecuted expeditiously and not be given “gentle” invitation to assist in investigation. No one is above the law.
Daily Guide made a publication on its front-page that the kidnapped girls had been found and were expected to be released to their families. That also turned out to be a hoax. Rev Owusu Bempah has also claimed he knows the whereabouts of the missing girls and would make disclosure only to the President of the land. The CID has surprisingly remained loudly silent on these serious claims. I wonder if anyone is concerned about the trauma and heartache of the affected families.
In the light of the foregoing, state institutions like the CID and NCA must be seen to be working in the national interest and not pander to the whims and caprices of unseen hands that remote control them. NCA for instance, might be doing what is required of it constitutionally in closing down radio stations but let us also bear in mind that the law is a funny creature of man that can be exploited and twisted to achieve selfish and sinister motives.
Whenever issues of this nature emerge, we should look beyond what is happening today and tackle the problem right from the roots. The root causes of our national woes are the bottlenecks and shortcomings in the 1992 constitution. Ghana deserves better.
Credit: Clement Adjei Sarfo
