BNI must be free of Goverment Meddling

The Bureaux of National Investigation (BNI) is a state organ for gathering intelligence covertly to protect the Nation from both within and outside the Country. Where National Security is at stake the BNI would be within its power to undertake investigation and where necessary submit their findings to the Prosecution body for justice to take its course. Unfortunately, the apparent politicisation of the BNI has made it a tool for the ruling Party to harass and intimidate its political opponents. The BNI has been empowered by the ruling Party to make inroads into criminal investigation that has nothing to do with the nation’s security but were traditionally the jurisdiction of the Police Criminal Investigation Department (CID). It is no coincidence that the inauguration of a new government is immediately followed by a fresh configuration of the BNI personnel that reflects the colour and thinking of the Party in Power. The reinstatement of Gustav Adade in the Secret Service by the current government is a typical example. In effect, the independence of the BNI as a serious Investigative body has been eroded with government manipulation. Hence its findings should be treated with caution. Government briefings on the different stages reached by the BNI in its investigation of political opponents serve to underline the depth of their involvement. If the BNI was an independent body, it will not need government spokespersons to brief the media on when investigation will complete and prosecution of ex-ministers will begin. The damage limitation exercise conducted by the deputy minister of information, Agyenim Boateng, when he tried to justify the illegal detention of the former Chief of Staff, Mr Mpianin, for 17hours is a reminder of the blind leading the blind. Nobody in the corridor of power at present in Ghana can honestly claim that Mr Mpianin is a security risk and therefore deserve to have his human rights trampled on by the government arm, The BNI; yet the deputy minister sought to put some gloss on the disgraceful treatment of the former Chief of Staff with a feeble excuse that the Bureaux was busy with other issues on that day. Implying Mr Mpianin would have received better treatment if he had not missed his original appointment. Such lame excuse from the minister for the BNI action amplifies the unholy alliance between the ruling Party and The BNI. It also illustrates the absence of any legal framework within which the BNI operates. For example how long a suspect can be held without infringing their basic human rights is not immediately clear from the deputy minister’s explanation. It is a case of `making it up’ as the BNI grope in the dark for the correct path to follow in order to satisfy their political masters.

The BNI is increasingly becoming the Law, bending and violating existing laws with impunity to give credence to unproven allegations by government officials against their political opponents. This is a dangerous path for a democratic institution to follow and must be challenged in every shape or form before Ghana slips into elected dictatorship. What should we make of their latest high profile action of preventing an ex-Minister of Information, Mr Asamoah Boateng, from boarding a plane bound for the USA? Without second-guessing the reporter of the news item captioned `BNI STOPS ASABEE FROM TRAVELING’ on your web site yesterday (15/06/09), I will wager that the ex-Minister had no prior knowledge that he was due for questioning by the BNI when he made his travel arrangement. It is reasonable to assume that no formal notice was handed to the ex-Minister to change his travel arrangement to accommodate the BNI inquisition, because no reporter worth their sort will miss an important piece of information like that. That missing piece of information in the Report is the crux of the matter. It gives an indication of the political agenda the BNI is bent on fulfilling. It is a sad day for democracy, if the state apparatus is used by the ruling Party as a political football to score political points against their opponents. An investigative body that is increasingly seen as government whipping arm lacks credibility, independence, objectivity, coherence and the analytical review techniques required for the intelligent work the BNI is supposed to be engaged in. If my reading into the event is correct, then it's time for the BNI to disengage itself from the ruling Party to salvage some respect that will augur well for Ghana's infant democracy.

The BNI would command more respect if there is a clear separation from its political masters and a demonstration of impartiality in the conduct of its investigation. It should not be used as an instrument to humiliate political opponents of the ruling Party and ought to confine its activities to security issues. Behaving like the Gestapo in Nazi Germany during the Second World War will only bring the body into disrepute. I suspect the apologist for the failings of the current government will be up in arms citing the previous government as equally guilty of using the BNI to bring people like Tsikata to trial; and I concede that point. But `two Wrongs do not make a Right’! What is the point of repeating the errors of previous administration if the aim is to improve the functions of government?

The pillars of democracy will wobble if true democrats don’t shout about the abuse of power in secret chambers by a government arm in the shape of BNI that operates in a dubious legal framework. When democratic systems experience hiccups, the solution is loud debate, mass rallies and protest marches to draw attention to the problem for corrective action to be taken. Hence the protest march to the BNI office by the ex-Ministers to draw attention to Mr Mpianin, their colleagues’ plight is a laudable democratic exercise. It is a joke when other commentators see the protesters’ action as interference with the Rule of Law. In Law there is such a thing as `Ultra Vire’ meaning acting outside a given Power. There is nothing wrong with shining a democratic torch light on the abuse or illegal seizure of power!

The BNI can claim to be independent when it has the right to recruit, train and retain its personnel instead of being handpicked by the ruling Party. It must also fend off political manoeuvring by determining the length of time reasonably required to complete an investigation and not dictated by politicians motivated by political stunts. In effect, it should not rush an investigation to fulfil a political agenda. Most importantly, the BNI activities must be subject to public scrutiny and accountability to prevent it from human rights abuse and violation of the terms of its mandate to operate as an investigation body. Parliament must revisit the terms on which the BNI was set up and redraft the Body’s constitutional rights incorporating some of the points raised to give it a true independent status. Otherwise it should be disbanded and let the Police formulate a special body to carry out the specific function of the BNI.

In its current shape, the BNI only fuel the disquiet about elected dictatorship that silences their political opponents with state apparatus. Subjecting an elderly statesman like the former chief of staff, Mr Mpianin whose ill-health is well known, to a long and degradation questioning without the presence of a doctor or lawyer is tantamount to torture reminiscent of military regimes. How will it rest on the conscience of the politicians who sanction such method of interrogation, if Mr Mpianin health suffers gravely as a result of this `secret-chamber torture’? It must be noted that Mr Mpianin is INNOCENT until proven guilty so he deserves to have his rights as a human being respected.

Kwaku Frimpong