Lynching of an officer: Is there hope for Ghana?

I decided over a year ago to stop writing articles for publication on Ghana web on issues I deeply care about. However, the tragic death of an officer and a gentleman, the late Captain Maxwell Adam Mahama has complied me to come out of retirement to write and contribute to the debate on this unfortunate horrific national tragedy.

Since reading about the incident few days ago, I have been sad, grieved, mourning as if the late Captain was a friend or a family member. I am also full of anger and mad as hell. I am so devastated and have not passed a good night sleep since then and I don’t know how long it is going to take for me to overcome this horrific and barbaric national tragedy.

My heart is bleeding for Ghana my beloved mother land. I am trying so hard to make sense of it all. I have being asking myself, why have we as a people allowed ignorance, lawlessness, hatred leading to mob justice to run so deep to the point whereby mere suspicion led to the tragic and horrific death of one of our finest.

Since when did we descend to this level of lawlessness and primitive behavior? It appears we have lost all sense of humanity and sensitivity to human compassion and reasoning. I can’t help but to pose the question, where is all this hatred, disregard for the law, and mob justice leading us as a nation? It is happening all over the country. So, the question is, is there hope for Ghana as far as rule of law, civilized conduct and human compassion is concerned?

Ghanaians are smart, compassionate and peace loving people by nature. Therefore, we must not allow this evil primitive behavior of lawlessness and its related mob justice to permeate and take over our culture, it must be stopped in its tracks right now. It is our collective responsibility to take action now. Every single one of us must take the responsibility to educate, challenge and report any appearance of lawlessness and mob justice tendencies within our respective communities, if we as a people are to be freed of this evil.

Our community and traditional leaders including politicians must embark on a comprehensive anti-mob justice campaign. The government must commit resources to the campaign and President Nana Akufo Addo must lead from the front on the issue. We are sick and tired of reactive sympathy, and lack of follow up as soon as emotions subsides after a national tragedy. We must not let this young officer’s tragic and horrific death be in vain. It should be a wakeup call to action now. (No more mob justice, it must not be tolerated whatsoever) We are the Black star of Africa, and a such, we must do all we can to reflect that, including but not limited to civilized behavior at all cost. We have Africa to lead, let us all remember that.

My sincerest condolences to the Late Captain’s family, especially Barbra, you are in our thoughts and prayers. May the God of all comfort, comfort you and give you peace as only He can.

May the soul of the late Captain Maxwell Adam Mahama rest in perfect peace, you are gone, but will forever remind in our heart.

Long live Ghana, and God bless Ghana.

Komla – the Peace Ambassador.