This Is Shameful

Yaw Boateng Gyan

The infamous Yaw Boateng Gyan tape debacle and the response or otherwise of the relevant security agency is ample proof of how the long hand of NDC politicians can impede the enforcement of the law.

The many days which have elapsed so far without any attempts at arresting the National Organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) show the reality of the selective application of the law in the country.

Given the alacrity with which the CID and other security agencies have reacted to cases in which the state sought political advantages and therefore ordered such brawny actions, we are not hard-pushed to conclude that George Orwell's Animal Farm variations in the application of the law is in full flight in Ghana.

We found it bizarre and outlandish that the CID could be waiting to be prompted to take action in a matter which is laden with major national security challenges.

That the originator of the subversive stuff has not denied the obscenity and walks about freely because his party is in power is another proof of the security agencies' aloofness to the issue.

Governance which includes, among other things, the unbiased enforcement of the law and the upholding of the rule of law is a critical factor in assessing governments.

We are constrained under the prevailing circumstances to draw the conclusion that the government, as being managed by the NDC, is anything but good governance compliant.

Yesterday, we learnt that the police activated a so-called media monitoring system, a means by, as the name implies, which the security agency would listen via the plethora of radio stations, happenings as reported by the media.

But of what use is the system when action regarding national security threats as occasioned by the Yaw Boateng Gyan tape infamy cannot be dealt with.

Must we believe the police claim that they did not have a copy of the infamy when we have been reliably informed that radio stations are religiously monitored?

We are taking the pledge by National Security Coordinator Gbevlo-Lartey to probe the case with a pinch of salt, especially since the name of his office was mentioned as being the source of identification cards for NDC activists for clandestine political activities during elections. Let the former military officer tell that to the marines.

The memory of NPP supporters murdered in front of a police station at the Agbogbloshie Market by their NDC colleagues is still fresh in our minds. Anytime we remember the sordid act, as we always do, and how the police handled it when COP Rose Bio-Atenga was Greater Accra Regional Police Commander, we are unable to avoid thinking about how non-NDC Ghanaians cannot expect protection from the national security apparatus.

May the Almighty God, the Omniscient and Omnipotent, protect us under the oppressor's rule in which the security agencies are controlled by politicians in power.