Editorial

PREEN POLICE FEATHERS

Two members of the Ghana police force were reportedly killed instantly, by what could be described as friendly-fire from their professional colleagues, allegedly on patrol expedition. This is unfortunate. The Republic mourns with families and state at this loss.

The paper would join Ghanaians to commend the Ghana Police Service for tremendous work it has been doing in recent times to ensure that peace and order reign in the country.

The Republic also recognizes and still cherishes success story of resolve by the Ghana police service to guard and guide Ghanaians’ peaceful coexistence before, during and after the December 2012 general election and its subsequent stout-sentry during the period of the 8-months that the election petition spent in court.

However, with the elections over and the Supreme Court case also over the government through the Ahmed Alhassan police administration needs be steadfast, so to purge the police service of certain dangerous element plaguing that noble institution.

The police service has so far been plagued with advanced cancer of indiscipline which needs to be checked.

There have been a lot of complaints against the police, coming from the policing public, which the police administration of the day often turned its deaf-ears to.

There have been and continue to be, apart from jittery at the guns’ trigger; marshalling the armed bandits and sometimes actively participating in unsocial acts, reckless driving of police vehicles by every Ghanaian police person – senior officer or the ranks even in their privately owned vehicles - endangering the safety of the members of the general public, has been in ascendancy.

Today, the public trust in the Ghana Police Service, The Republic can say without reservation, is at its lowest ebb. Very few police personnel are trusted by the Ghanaian public. This is not good enough; it does not give any good outlook at the police image from public view. But no police big-man seems to have cared a hoot about this, and the government of the day leaves police matters to police.

Many innocent Ghanaians may have died through reckless deed of members of the country’s police force – who have become larger than life in all facets and departments of that noble profession.

Many unfortunate families have argued over and over again that their kith and kin have been killed, knowingly or accidentally, who were not criminals, but who were in most of such gory incidents labelled armed robbers – exchanging gun-fires and bullets with the police. The police administration, sometimes sadly quickly swept these cases under the investigative carpets.

The victims and their families suffer the aftermath of these sad police staged events, while the personnel involved continue to enjoy the freedom in uniform without reform or remorse.

Few that were one time or another announced to have been interdicted or sacked from the service by the administration after clamorous public outcry were only again ‘necodemously’ re-uniformed through the backdoor and at the blindside of the fooled-public. Interestingly, most of them crept back into the service only to commit most dangerous acts than the first ones.

Sadly, today, it is about the police killing police with the ‘toys’ they loved using haphazardly and without an iota of scruple; and reading the police Public Relations office issued-statement over the sad homicide of the two budding young officers – Lance Corporals Emmanuel Tetteh and Francis Appiah, as an intelligence contractor – one and everyone of Ghanaians need to watch over his or her shoulders and pray not to fall on target range of barrel of any trigger-happy cop. The police headquarters didn’t call spade a spade.

However; The Republic would console the bereaved families of the two distressed cops. May the good Lord fortify their strength to be able to sustain the painful injury unnecessarily inflicted in their hearts.

The paper believes it couldn’t have been a right time to start effective preening of the coarse Ghana police feathers.