By Ivan Kyei Innocent / nanakyei81@gmail.com
The various security agencies parading in this country have recently come
under severe vilification in relation to their mode of operations
especially with intelligence surveillance and gathering.
Discussions within the media landscape drags to bear the utter
dissatisfaction and displeasure within the general public pertaining to how
their operations are carried out.
I therefore express similar sentiments with that of the public in the sense
that, over the years, the need has increased for our security agencies to
mitigate anticipated threats more effectively by conducting vulnerability
assessment,risk analysis,emergency preparedness and other security related
issues but on the contrary,our security agencies have become the
ambassadors of corruptions,blackmailing and looting, actions which
consistently drag both the image and the developmental agenda of the nation
backwards.
Political infiltration and manipulations have subsequently robbed the
neutrality and the independence of these agencies. Indeed political
influence has submerged and subdued the functional rationality of these
sensitive agencies in the darks rendering them incapacitated.
The most nauseating aspect of these outmoded developments is that the
security agencies have become a token package used by politicians to honour
and compensate party faithfuls without any credential considerations.
This has massively contributed to the wave of
incompetence,infighting,back-bitting and pull-him-down attitude trailing
down the security intelligence in Ghana.
The implications of these barbaric and absurd manipulations brought about
by political extremism and over-entrenched political stance are quiet
revealing thus creating a vile bureaucratic agenda being perused to the
detriment of the collective interest of Ghanaians.
Recently, the public confidence in the security agencies has wane
considerable,especially the police service, no wonder matters bothering on
crime are rather referred to the media for consideration instead of the
security agencies.
The expectation of every Ghanaian at this crucial moment is quiet certain,
that our security system must deliver timely and relevant
threats,vulnerability and reputation intelligence enabling the economy of
the nation and businesses to adjust their security position based on the
emerging threats that might impact their critical system. Undeniable these
agencies are lagging behind this clue of modern civility pertaining to
security intelligence allowing politics of the belly and the relics of
greed to over-shadow their better parts.
In other dispensations like the united states, the security forces do not
need executive massaging before handling matters relating to national
security. Every group or individual activities with threat tendencies
likely to plunge the existence of peace into the tight corners of anarchy
and turmoil are meted with the appropriate responses,criminal cases are
treated as such without any fear or favour. But this is rather unfortunate
in our situation,the elements within the security agencies keep brooding in
servitude to their political masters, subsequently creeping their integrity
and professional ethics. Professionalism is nothing to boast of,moral
etiquette and professional standard maintenance have died with them
centuries back rendering these agencies void of integrity.
There have been several instances where the police force in particular have
declined to effect legally warranted arrest on matters bothering on breach
of national security just because those issues had political bearings.
The recent war-fingering and inciting statements made by some political
activist ought to have attracted swift intervention from the police or the
BNI but rather scaled over the security parameters undetected. Some of
these statements sought to distablise the existence of peace and
tranquillity and light the flame of tyranny and magnanimity endangering the
life of the citizenry. But for political affinity those unwarranted
statements were rather defended by some alleged academics for whatever
reasons known to them. The continual maneuvering of these sensitive
agencies has placed Ghana on a timely bomb likely to explode in no time.
At this time cyber crime,fraud and impersonation are on the ascendancy in
Ghana,everyone utilizing any means possible to have his or her way
through,it does not even matter if it takes to spill blood. What were once
considered as virtues of the land have been thrown to the pigs creating a
loop of moral aberrations. Carefully assessing such a horrible situation
starring at us, one would not be faulted in linking these happenings to
massive institutional failure capturing the security agencies.
It's a common knowledge, some elements in the security paradigm
particularly the police service are by themselves apostles of corruption
and looting. Hard to believe though but the truth is that,some politicians
in this country use security experts within their reach of power
manipulations for reprisal attacks, unleashing fear and terror on opponents
in whichever corner they are fingered. Conceivably broad day extortion and
robbery by some security experts under the cover of their job is quiet
problematic,a lot of policemen and women charged with the enormous
responsibility of checking road unworthiness and other traffic offences are
rather on a "desperate rampage of sheer extortion" in their daily dealings
with the public,drivers are the most unfortunate victims of these canning
adventure. For some time now several reports have come out indicting the
credibility and the integrity of these agencies especially the police
service. The situation is compounded by the fact that, heads of these
agencies are the sole initiators of these corrupt and fraudulent acts and
are therefore unfazed by these unfolding scenes of plain embarrassment and
integrity liquidation.
The most recent of these numerous reports is that of the Ghana Integrity
Initiative a chapter of Transparency International. The report figured the
police service first on the corruption sheet which is quiet astonishing and
heart-bleeding.
Convincingly corruption has eaten deep into the fabrics of the police
service to the extent where even the top brass seemed to have conceded
defeat in the fight against this cancar.
A lot of criminal activities have been offloaded to the reserved-shore and
the culprits of these heinous crimes walk uncharged under the cover of
party politics and attimes some of these criminal orchestrations warrant
deafening and thunderous applause from party brigades and others in the
gallery.
The various regulatory bodies responsible for monitoring and evaluation of
personnel in the various agencies are worse of a kind and just like our
politicians of the belly, they photocopy writings from books and memorize
them on platforms of active discussions, trading in semantics and ambiguous
grammar is all they are good for .The failure to translate what we can do
into reality keeps holding this nation into ransom.
Our security agencies are indeed crumbling under the weight of poor
managerial operations,fear,political maneuvering and many more.This has
placed the onus on us as citizens to fight and make things right because
right to security of the ordinarily Ghanaian is paramount and must
supersede all other aspects of our dealings.
To solve this witty mystery bedeviling our nation for decades, reforms must
follow,admission of persons with proper qualifications must only be allowed
into our security agencies without having any bearing on political
influence.
This would go along way to revamp the already devastated and embattled
integrity of the various security agencies.
Despite the genuine challenges sweeping the agencies, the government has
not abandoned efforts at ensuring that all necessary support needed are
provided to promote effective fight and flashout crime from our modern
society.
Until this situation changes for the better,the available resources and
revenue within the reach of the security agencies coupled with the
government's unceased efforts to provide support both monetary and
logistics would continue to be used to make a living a hell hole for the
ordinary Ghanaian.
My recommendation is simple , until heads roll down in the security
agencies and our leaders begin to share unsentimental sense patriotism,the
ordinary Ghanaian would continue to be a pawn in their greedy venture.
From Ivan Kyei Innocent
nanakyei81@gmail.com /0206262717
