Fear Grips Accra Residents

AS RITUAL KILLERS SEEM UNSTOPPABLE

The number of ritual killings in the Accra metropolis is worrying and should not be taken lightly. An explanation from the police that there has not been any arrests yet because of the uncooperative attitude of the public, makes matters even more frightening.

Meanwhile, people are dying and something ought be to be done immediately to unravel these mysterious deaths that threw this country into a state of fear before the 2000 presidential and parliamentary elections.

It is difficult to understand why people take deliberate decisions to kill their fellow human beings so they could become better off in life. And for those who kill their own family members, it shows you how far selfish individuals are prepared to go in their quest for material things especially money.

Since society does not want to know how people come by their wealth but will accord them high places, the get-rich-quick mentality shall continue to be the order of the day. What kind of teachings do our religious leaders give to the people they claim to be leading?

The incidence of ritual killings gets high when elections are approaching as were linked to 2000, 2004 and 2008. Can the police put pieces together to find out why we should be experiencing such incidents when 2010 is still far away? Has it got anything to do with the polling stations and constituency executive elections the two main political parties are engaged in now?

While it is true that the police can be very effective with information from the public, we are currently caught up in web for which something drastic has to be done. The perpetrators of these acts will intensify their diabolical activities if they are convinced that the public are delaying in providing relevant information to the police to carry out its investigative work with the necessary urgency it requires.

The police must be proactive even if the public is not playing their part as expected of them. They should send their men and women into the communities to mingle with residents during day and night. People at very high risk are traders who wake up at dawn to go to the markets, the predominantly female population who attend all-night sessions and various categories of workers who leave home early for work because of transportation problems .

The preachers at worship centres should educate their members to move in groups. Husbands must accompany their wives to nearby lorry stations –this is a sacrifice in the interest of the couple and entire family. Remember, the wicked plans and carries out his plans meticulously. I have often asked myself if parents care about their children these days.

How caring are they when they allow young children sometimes as young as six years old to travel on their own to school? Everyone should be vigilant in their residential areas and parents must desist from sending children on errands at odd times.

I am making a special appeal to those who have servants in their homes. Please show a little kindness to such people who are working for you because of poverty. If you would not under a circumstance send your own child out because it is either too early in the morning or too late in the night, why are you doing that the poor servant?

Travelers who enter the city at dawn should wait at the various stations until probably 5.00 a.m. before embarking on their activities. Moving in pairs with known faces would help.

As the police wait for public information to enable them unravel the mysterious deaths that have come back to haunt us, let human rights organizations, women groups, civil society, the media, religious organizations and individuals , come together with once voice to compel government to give maximum protection to Ghanaians.

The political parties in this country have devoted portions of their manifestoes to human rights and the rule of law. A time has come for us to hold them to their words. At the forefront of this must surely be the NDC which is the ruling party. Is the government not aware of what is happening to the citizens? Now is the time for it to take action.

Parties who find themselves in opposition should equally dust their manifestoes and offer solutions to the problem. And this is where some of us feel very bad because Ghana has no national policies on issues affecting the people. Instead of having a national security policy, the ruling government would have nothing to do with qualified Ghanaians who do not belong the NDC. At best, they see security experts in other parties and other organizations as security threats .

The history of ritual murders in Ghana dates back to the colonial period. Within the next few months, we shall celebrate our 53rd anniversary of self-rule. We have enough experts in this country to assist the government of the day to stop ritual murders with whatever undertone be it political, economic, social or religious.

We should not import expertise from outside when so much money has gone into the training of our own countrymen but whose services we are not tapping because of political inexpediency.

The recent ritual murders pose a major challenge to the Ministry of the Interior, National Security and the security advisers to President Mills. Ghanaians demand rapid results and it would be disastrous move slowly for the number to increase. The government must open its arms to embrace ideas from all sections of society.