Drug Politics

We can only pray that the mindset of those elected to govern will soon change when they discover soonest the counter-productivity or even uselessness of such politically-driven and mischievous pranks. It is recourse totally at variance with the tenets of political morality.

We are constrained to recall how on the day of the arrival of Eric Amoateng from the US—upon the completion of his jail term—two welcoming groups turned up at the airport for varying reasons.

While one party originated from the gentleman's home constituency of Nkoranza North in the Brong- Ahafo Region, the other, we have creditably learnt, were state players whose mission was to implement the political agenda of their bosses at NACOB and elsewhere.

The physical disparity between the two welcoming groups was that whereas the Nkoranza visitors did not don party T-shirts and were just there to exhibit love to their kinsman, the state-assigned national security elements spotted the NPP apparels having been dropped there earlier by state-owned buses. After all, they were there on state service.

Just why the political agenda would be stretched to such an extent defies logic. As to whether the political mileage being sought was achieved is left to members of the public who know too well the machinations of the special state department charged with undertaking such dirty operations.

In our last editorial on the subject, we expressed disdain for the tendency to deliberately drag criminality into the political realm because doing so tends to douse the seriousness of the crime and possibly let the suspects off the hook which is the reason for the cacophonous remarks on the airwaves.

We do not have any objection to Eric Amoateng facing the full wrath of the law when found guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction. When, however, the intention is geared towards gaining political mileage—which is what we are beginning to discern—then we are afraid same would not be achieved.

Indeed, the boomerang effect of such a preference can be devastating. We are therefore surprised politicians holding public offices would savour this mode.

We have witnessed the recruitment of characters with criminal baggage into government agencies; and same persons are used for such dirty operations which constitute some of the factors responsible for our socio-political backwardness.

The radio discussions about the telltale evidence on the two groups which turned up at the airport speak a lot about the level of our descent into political backwardness. Let us play decent politics and avoid dragging criminality into what should be a noble occupation of service to society—which is politics.

Ghanaians can no longer contain the equalisation preference of politicians who find themselves at the helm. This is counter-productive and would soon come to haunt those who have found in it a turf worth basking on.