EDITORIAL: Oh No! Mr. President

IT SEEMS President John Agyekum Kufuor has not seen the seriousness of his statement on the cocaine saga, which he delivered to party faithful at the commissioning of a new party office for the Greater Accra New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Accra recently.

His cocaine outburst has attracted various comments from the public questioning his position as a Head of State and a member of a political party.

Yet the President jumped into the cocaine fray again by granting an interview to an Accra daily, defending his remarks in which he accused the National Democratic Congress (NDC) through an NDC guru, Mr. Joseph 'Rojo' Mettle Nunoo, of bringing cocaine barons into the country to set up probably a cocaine factory at the Tema Free Zone enclave.

It is very unfortunate that the President is allowing himself to be drawn into this cocaine saga.

As Head of State and Chairman of the National Security Council, the President is privy to numerous security facts, which should always be kept in his chest and divulge or discuss only among those security personnel he is supposed to be working with.

But what are we seeing now? After that unfortunate bombshell at the Regional Party office, let us listen to the President again.

Throwing into the wind the security nature of the whole episode, the President is reported to have said that there is clear evidence of an orchestrated attempt by some people to subvert the economy, and that as a Head of State, he could not sit down unconcerned when unscrupulous members of society with links to a leading political party aided foreign drug barons to damage the country's hard-won reputation in their desperate attempt to seek power.

The Chronicle regards these statements as very unfortunate, but the President continued that security reports are clear that some leading members of a particular political party were visiting some countries in Latin America well noted for the underworld drug trade. He emphasized that these leading members of this particular political party leave the country under the guise of visiting other destinations but divert their course to Colombia, Ecuador or Venezuela.

This latest interview from the President is once again very sad. Is the President, one may ask, not breaching security confidentiality?

Is he not head of the National Security Council?

Are security matters now the plaything for party faithful to be allowed into the domain of all Ghanaians while committees have been set up to plug those security lapses?

This paper agrees absolutely with the President that at the time when the international comity of nations are beginning to have confidence in the Ghanaian economy, it was callous for politicians seeking the mandate of the people to try and undermine the nation. But the question is whether it was right for the President to spill these security beans at a political rally and in public.

By doing so, how could the security apparatus work to perfection if the cover of the story they are investigating has been blown by no less a person than the President himself?

Once again, The Chronicle is appealing to the President to clamp shut his mouth on this issue in public. He should try to differentiate his person as President from that of a leader of a political party.

He should know that as father of the nation, the destiny of this country rests on his shoulders and nothing must be done to entrap the country to others who are not privy to state security matters.

The harm has already been done by the President but The Chronicle hopes those working closely with him will do their very best to zip his mouth up on this crucial cocaine issue when he is in public.