Armed Robbery Is here To Stay

Carl Jung, one of the fathers of psychology, once observed that “people cannot stand

too much reality.” To politicians, what this means is that to win power, or to retain it,

the plain truth must never be told to the electorate about any situation. This appeared

to be the case with some politicians when they promised voters to “make armed

robbery a thing of the past” if voted into power. Now, two years after making the

pledge, armed robbery not only continues to be perpetrated with impunity, it has

evolved into a sophisticated culture that is brazenly challenging virtue for social space

on equal terms. Indeed, the current situation is nothing but a disappointing cartoon of

the El Dorado that was promised to us.

Though no one can be certain what fraction of our population armed robbers

constitute, our perception – the perception that assures narcotic relief from fear and

panic and also accords with our definition of reality - is that they represent an

insignificant proportion of civil society. Nobody appears to be contemplating that

given their Fibonacci rate of growth, armed robbers might outnumber policemen in

our country in just a decade or less, or that the new oil economy will be a catalyst in

their proliferation. But while we remain oblivious to these concerns, armed robbers,

highly expectant as the rest of us about the approaching “golden age of oil,” might be

recruiting and training scores of desperadoes, who, incensed by the vile blows and

buffets of economic hardship, might be willing to bet their lives on any adventure to

secure their “10% share of oil revenues.” If the emergence of psychopathic

megalomaniacs of the likes of Johnson Kombian on the heels of the incarceration of

Ata Ayi, the notorious poster child of homegrown armed robbery, is any precursor to

the future, our Palestinian version of the battle against armed robbery on Ghanaian

soil might have just begun.

Many years after their perpetration, the mysteries surrounding several dastardly armed

robberies remain unraveled. Worst, some of their perpetrators are either unknown or

still at large. The frightening prospect of these criminals dwelling amongst us, and the

possibility that they might use their ill-gotten wealth and influence to establish a

mafia to protect their interests and perpetrate crimes on a grander scale, must be of

serious concern to those who have pledged to eradicate armed robbery from our land.

Let our politicians first begin by exposing the phantoms behind every unsolved

robbery case that occurred and the so-called “contract killings,” for they might be the

earliest incarnations of the mafia. Until they commit to and succeed at this task, the

promise to make armed robbery a thing of the past will simply pass as noisy rhetoric

and agitprop. Whether this objective can be achieved before 2012, the next decade or

in a half-century or more is left for the public to decide.

Credit the creativity and fertile imagination of armed robbers for the other reason why

armed robbery will never be a thing of the past. For one thing, armed robbers never

seem to run out of protean strategies to keep them a step ahead of everyone else in

their game. No sooner has a group of robbers been killed or arrested than another

succeeds on their mission with devilish distinction, inspiring yet another group with

their enthusiasm and diabolism. Frankly, I cannot sometimes hide my “admiration”

for the manner in which robberies are conducted. Let people understand - before they

write me off as a psychopath, terrorist, buccaneer, megalomaniac, scalawag, hoodlum,

villain, bed-wetter, and altogether callous and insensitive – that my wife was robbed

at gunpoint in front of my kids last year. You probably never heard about it nor saw

my tears because it was not in the news and my crying was done in the rain. But if

robbers can fake a call to the police about a fictitious strike on one part of Adenta

while they actually attack another part, if they intentionally and repeatedly trigger

your car alarm until you get convinced that nothing but the wind is responsible for the

nuisance and you step out to disable it – just to get some sleep – only to be seized at

gunpoint and marched inside your impregnable fortress, you cannot fail to show

respect for their prowess.

Notwithstanding the rising social headache over armed robbery, all we’re hearing is

that statistics on the vexed culture is trending downwards. Interestingly, the Police

Service, the institution that might be indicted by the records, is the one that is

churning out, analyzing and interpreting the statistics. At the risk of displaying

academic pomposity, let everyone know about my profound contempt for their poorly

microwaved data and the misleading interpretations fed to a public malnourished on

phony statistical bombast. Let those who are reassured by statistics from the police

understand that armed robbery has its own rhythm. There will be periods when it will

move at the pace of a sonata; there will be times when it will be conducted with the

crescendo of a cantata; and there will be seasons when it will rise to the tempo of an

allegro, but there will never be total silence and peace forever.

From another perspective the armed robbery problem behaves like the financial

markets. It has its bull and bear phases, as well as corrections or consolidations.

Consolidations are the periods when armed robbers rest temporarily from their

exploits and recalibrate their strategies. Watchful citizens never misinterpret this to

mean a reduction in robbery cases. Rather, they take measures to prepare for the next

onslaught.

Perhaps, the parable of the Good Samaritan should humble politicians in our country

and make them admit that since armed robbery predates the time of Christ, no person

can make it the subject of archeological study in a mere presidential term.

Finally, let me end by saying that if this exposition of the realities of our times has

caused you fear and panic, I plead guilty as charged before the court of public

opinion; I would be happy to be the protomartyr for my views, views that I consider

pro bono publico, than to remain alive and be silent about lies from any quarters.

Author: Patrick A. Yeboah;

Email: owura_pat@yahoo.com