PRESS STATEMENT
‘I have followed with keen interest the increasing public outcry on the back of a press conference addressed by the current boss of the CID COP Tiwa Addo-Danquah.
Historically, sacking public officials has not necessarily fixed the systemic failures this nation has had to endure for decades in our public institutions. The efficiency of a system is not determined by the frequency with which heads are hired or fired.
The case of a national kidnapping crisis involving a vulnerable group like young ladies would always pose a challenge for any security agency in the world, and the Ghana Police Service is no exception.
Show me a single humanitarian crisis the CID has had to endure greater and more delicate than this kidnapping of three innocent young ladies. This creeping phenomenon remains new to us as a nation and calling for the head of the CID boss at a time she and her hardworking team are making relentless efforts to wade through unchartered waters is a bit premature and insensitive.
No human being is perfect. Admittedly, making public a word of hope and consolation to the families that are in serious distress was way off the mark of internationally accepted best practices. In advanced countries like the USA, when a soldier or an agent gets abducted or killed, the head of the FBI, the Department of Defense or the CIA would certainly not go public to give a word they would have deemed consoling, but rather would continue dealing with the affected families privately and on the quiet as negotiations or investigations continue.
Communication could have been handled better, but this cannot be enough grounds for the sacking of the CID boss. Let’s pardon her and hope she handles such delicate matters better in future.
As a country that is so friendly to the idea of women being in leadership positions, we can’t afford to sacrifice such a great role model to potentially many millions of promising young ladies by showing her the exit because of a communication error. His Excellency the President should not throw Madam Tiwa Addo Danquah under the bus.
I urge the good people of Ghana to consider this kidnapping situation a national humanitarian crisis that needs our prayers and unflinching support for our security agencies to bring back our girls rather than a political game of chess with unrealistic ultimatums or ultimata ‘
Irbard Ibrahim
