The Law of the Streets vs. The Rule of the Gun—Why the Afienya Standoff Is Ghana’s Darkest Warning

Our elders say, “Akrane mfa ne dom nnyɛ serekye basabasa”—the soldier ant does not lead its army to create needless chaos in the marketplace. Ghana’s democracy has long been celebrated as an oasis of constitutional order in a sub-region plagued by instability. Yet, the explosive confrontation in Afienya between Ningo-Prampram Member of Parliament Samuel Nartey George and a detachment of the Ghana Armed Forces forces us to confront a terrifying reality: the guardrails holding our peace together are fraying. When a prominent lawmaker publicly threatens to unleash the "law of the streets" on state soldiers, and when those same soldiers reportedly cock weapons at a senior Police Commander, we are no longer looking at a localized dispute over a sand-winning site. We are witnessing the dangerous decay of institutional boundaries and the gradual normalization of lawlessness.

The Bible reminds us in Galatians 5:15, "But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another." This standoff is not an isolated flashpoint; it is a symptom of a deeper, systemic crisis in civil-military relations that has periodically stained Ghana’s modern history. Over the decades, the state’s over-reliance on tactical military forces to solve essentially civil, environmental, or domestic issues has repeatedly backfired. We saw it in the historic excesses during prolonged curfews in the Bawku conflicts, and we saw it as recently as 2021 during the military-civilian clashes in Wa, where rampaging soldiers brutalized innocent civilians on the streets over a missing phone.

Perhaps the most haunting reminder of what happens when this delicate ecosystem collapses is the 2017 tragedy of Major Maxwell Adam Mahama. Deployed on an internal security operation to fight illegal mining in Denkyira-Obuasi, Major Mahama was brutally lynched by a mob after being mistaken for an armed robber. As the Ga proverb wisely dictates, “Kɛ ji oya gbe tsoofa lԑ, ogbeo shikpɔŋ hu”—if you destroy the medicine, you destroy the land. That dark chapter proved the horrific consequences of what happens when communities view the military through a lens of profound distrust, and it underscores exactly why Sam George’s "law of the streets" rhetoric is so volatile. When civilian leaders validate raw street justice against the uniform, the result is catastrophic. Conversely, when the military engages in unauthorized, freelance operations—be it protecting mining concessions or disrupting sand-winning sites—they alienate the very citizens they are sworn to protect, creating the exact friction that led to Denkyira-Obuasi.

The swift intervention on November 4, 2026, by the Minister for Defence and Chief of Defence Staff to defuse the political-military tension is highly commendable. However, a closed-door handshake cannot substitute for structural reform. True security does not lie in an ominous warning that a lawmaker will find himself in "somebody's left," nor does it lie in political grandstanding. We must look to Proverbs 29:2: "When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when a wicked man rules, the people groan." Leadership must choose the path of righteousness, accountability, professional discipline, and the absolute supremacy of civil law.

The Anatomy of the Afienya Standoff

• The Freelance Raid: A military detachment reportedly moved into a civil sand-winning site in Afienya, allegedly brutalizing truck drivers and seizing property without a judicial or administrative warrant.
• The Institutional Insult: Confronted with the overreach, soldiers allegedly defied local police mediation, going as far as cocking their weapons at a Chief Superintendent of Police.
• The Vigilante Rhetoric: Incensed by the abuse of his constituents, MP Sam George bypassed formal channels, calling an officer a "thief" and warning that future military operations would face civilian retaliation via the "law of the streets."
• The Fatal Precedent: The rhetoric mirrors the dangerous breakdown of trust that historically led to the mob murder of Major Maxwell Mahama in 2017 and the civilian brutalities seen in Wa.

The Roadmap Forward: Restoring Institutional Sanity

An Ewe proverb tells us, “Du kplɔla si mekuavɔ o la, eƒe du hã mekuavɔo”—a leader who does not fear consequence brings ruin to his town. To permanently heal this structural friction and prevent future, potentially fatal standoffs, Ghana must implement uncompromising reforms:

• End Internal Resource Deployments: The Military High Command must systematically withdraw soldiers from civil and commercial monitoring—such as sand-winning sites or private lands—leaving these strictly under the jurisdiction of civilian regulatory bodies and the police.
• Mandatory Body Cameras for Internal Security: All military personnel deployed on necessary domestic joint tasks (such as anti-galamsey operations) must wear operational body cameras to guarantee transparency and provide objective evidence during civilian complaints.
• Establish an Independent Civilian Ombudsman: Ghana must move beyond internal military inquiries. An independent, civilian-led commission must be established to investigate allegations of military brutality and refer rogue elements directly to civilian courts for criminal prosecution.
• Enforce Unconditional Police Supremacy: Written state protocols must re-establish that the Ghana Police Service has absolute supremacy in handling internal, civil, and domestic security matters. Any act of insubordination or tactical threat by soldiers against police officers must result in immediate court-martial and dishonorable discharge.
• Sanctity of Property and Due Process: State security agencies must completely halt the arbitrary seizure of private civilian property. No vehicle or piece of machinery should be impounded without a direct warrant from a court of competent jurisdiction.
• Rethink Political Rhetoric: Lawmakers and state ministers must remember that words have consequences. While defending constituents is paramount, endorsing vigilantism or "street law" actively erodes the democratic order they are sworn to uphold.

A Powerful National Prayer for Ghana
Let us lift our hearts in prayer for our beloved homeland, referencing Psalm 122:7: "Peace be within your walls and security within your towers."

Heavenly Father, God of our ancestors, we commit our beautiful nation, Ghana, into Your almighty hands. We pray for our leaders, our lawmakers, and our military high command; grant them the divine wisdom of Solomon to govern with humility, justice, and absolute integrity. Temper fiery tongues with restraint, and subvert the pride of weapons with the ultimate power of peace. Cleanse our hearts of vengeance, lawlessness, and anger, and remind us daily that the uniform and the civilian are branches of the same national tree. Protect our citizens from oppression, preserve our security forces from harm, and let Your righteous peace rain upon every corner of our land, from the shores of the south to the plains of the north. We bind every spirit of civil conflict and chaos, and we loose unity and progress over our Republic. In Your holy name, we pray. Amen.

✍️By A Concerned Retired Senior Citizen

For and on behalf of all Senior Citizens of the Republic of Ghana 🇬🇭

Teshie-Nungua
[email protected]