Is GHANA a Banana Republic? Prince-Derek Adjei writes

Rule of Law gives way to the Law of the Jungle, where might is right. Chiefs bannish Citizens, Students go on Rampage, Soldiers replace Police while Government is fixated on next election not the collapsed economy, Junk Cedi, what a state! While traders through the Ghana United Trades Association (GUTA) declare strike due to the mismanagement of the Economy by the Outstanding Economic Management Team, The Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) join the rest of Ghana and Arise Ghana in calling out the failed Akufo Addo government demanding the sacking of the Finance Ministers, Governor of the Bank of Ghana and Dr. Bawumia for supervising the collapse of the economy as well as free fall of the cedi and Profiteering from the binge borrowing. He stated that beyond the excruciating hardships Ghanaians have been subjected to there is even greater danger lurking as the laws of Ghana are jettisoned by the State, Traditional authority and their agents.

As if that is not enough, the Police which are trained to keep peace and mandated to deal with civil matters, while the Military is trained to kill and mandated to defend the territorial integrity of Ghana, are discharging their duties in opposition to their mandates. "Many Ministers and now appointees such as the ECG Managing Director commandeered and deployed Military to perform the role of the Police and are unperturbed even after the Military personnel assaulted citizens amid firing live bullets". Those who ordered or deployed the Military to Kpletso to shoot and assault unarmed civilians on 15th April, 2020 gave the Military the edge to unleash terror on the people of Ejura on yet another shooting and assault mission.

He said it emboldened the mutineering soldiers in WA to embark on assault spree and Ada over the Songhor Salt and now the Krobo ECG brutalities leave much to be desired. "Instead of punishing the culprits and their commanders, the Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces, President Akufo Addo rather led a high powered delegation to Wa, to beg for the soldiers to be forgiven and not punished in accordance with the laws of Ghana to serve as deterrent to others". It is understandable why President Akufo Addo till date has ignored the earlier Military brutality at Kpletso in La, which has so far claimed three (3) lives. "The Military High Command promised Ghanaians it was conducting an investigation into the Kpletso shooting and assault by armed men in Ghana Army uniform but is yet to make public the Report on the investigation more than a year on". ...the Ghana Police Service refused to investigate the Kpletso Shooting and Assault despite the event happening in the presence of DCOP Kwesi Ofori and other senior Police officers,the IGP was Petitioned to no avail". The National Media Commission reneged upon its pledge to guarantee the safety of journalists and refused to act on petitions brought before it following the attack on journalists including the head injuries of Citi TV/Radio presenter Nii Ayikwei Okine who went to cover the Kpletso event.

Prince-Derek Adjei, a former Presidential staffer said the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) though acknowledged receipt of a petition on the Kpletso shooting and assault by armed men in Ghana Army uniform with a promise to investigate but that is yet to see the light of day. "Then came the Suame standoff where the Military and Police nearly engaged in an all out shootout but for the timely intervention of their respective commanders", he said. "Nobody has been publicly punished for the Kpletso, Ejura, Wa and Suame acts of impunity by the Military. ...the military has been deployed to guard Chinese galamseyers to mine in the forests and on our water bodies as shown on Joy News TV, yet nobody has been punished except Ghanaian water consumers who are being surcharged with the cost of pollution of the rivers and water bodies that the Ghana Water Company relies on".

He said shortly after the back to back Rampage on Ghana's University campuses vandalising property, Chiefs allegedly deployed vigilante groups to vandalise Akwesi Adai Odike's office in an attempt to enforce a banishment order for claiming that some Chiefs are complicit in the Galamsey activities in their communities. "As Ghana inches closer to a major Civil Strike or Uprising, the current trend in Vigilantism and Vandalism cannot be ignored no matter who is involved - whether it is being spearheaded by Students or Chiefs".

Dragging of the military into internal security matters which must be handled by the police is most dangerous as their familiarity with the civilian population may result in a number of adverse outcomes including Contempt or Coup". The following caution statements, according to him will be useful:

1. contempt brought on by familiarity will be avoided by keeping the military in barracks insulated from civilian population and brought in as a last resort only during a State of Emergency, 2. coups have dogged Ghana in the past, when military adventurists have taken advantage of the economic situation to takeover power, a situation that must be avoided at all cost in this Fourth Republic.

For the above reasons and especially because Ghana is in the worst economic situation with Ghanaians undergoing the worst hardship and the general discontent in every sector from Education to Health spilling over into the markets.

The Former Deputy CEO of the National Youth Authority and Deputy CEO of the Youth Enterprise Support at the Office of the President urged the Ghanaian Youth to rise up for the country and resist any military intervention that attempts to curtail the Fourth Republic and Ghana's democracy.

He urged government to immediately withdraw the military from all civil police duty. He prescribed a public punishing of perpetrators and commanders who deployed perpetrators in the various illegal military activities including landguard duties at Kpletso among others.

Government must publicly punish any students or chiefs found to be involved in the vigilantism and vandalism phenomenon which is fast becoming the New Normal Finally, he asked the President to act to save Ghana from the brink. "God Save Our Homeland Ghana from becoming a Banana Republic or a failed state. #SeeSomething #SaySomething #SaveGhanaNow