WHERE IS LEADERSHIP?

Listen to Capt (Retd) Budu Koomson

A retired army officer is convinced God's hand is upon Ghana, and has questioned the quality of leadership in the wake of election-related violence and infractions.

Capt. (Retd) Budu Koomson believes political party leaders must show true leadership and bear responsibility to call wayward party followers to order.

Budu Koomson featured on Joy FM's Super Morning Show with Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah.

He said leaders who cannot restrain their supporters from engaging in hooliganism because they (supporters) are doing so on their own volition are “not matured” and “not fit to be the leaders.”

“You should put in the mechanism, you should put in the strategy, you should engage with your people; if you can't take care of your supporters how much can you take care of Ghana,” he wondered.

Capt. Koomson asked the society not to downplay the “anger and dismay” being exhibited by supporters of the NPP and the NDC thinking conflicts that erupted in other counties cannot occur in Ghana; he warned they could happen “in such rapidity, we should try and shut those forces down”.

He said perpetrators behind these commotion and confusion should be put on notice and prosecuted no matter how long it will take.

He said it is time Ghanaians call a spade a spade and not wait until the harm has been caused before pointing accusing fingers.

“I expect that individuals, people I respect, names I know in society, this is the time they should be able to have them spine the backbone, the courage to stand up and say that this you did, this you said is wrong; we call people to order to let them stop it otherwise we will all leave to regret collectively”

Capt. Koomson called for “resolute, responsible leadership” to manage the kind of situation in Ghana.

The retired army officer also decried the kind of lawlessness that is rearing it heads in the society without a check on them.

“Has the law book suddenly been closed in Ghana?” He asked: “I dare say it is not. So what is happening, there is just lawlessness, be the taxi driver, be the trotro driver, be the guy on the street… doing exactly what he knows goes in contrary to his ethics

To the supporters, he asked them to wise up because those leaders they are fighting for would not encourage their own children to do the kind of things they are being asked to do.

Capt. Koomson asked Ghanaians to see themselves as one people, respect each other and their views and try as much as possible to accommodate each other. He reminded Ghanaians that the kind of government being practice here is “democracy and not democrazy”.

He also called on the media to respect the code and ethics of their profession and work accordingly in a professional manner.

“Recent developments in Ghana over the last couple of days…are the media proud of themselves? Are we enhancing peace in Ghana, are we enhancing development in Ghana?”

On his final word to those seeking leadership, he said: “If they say they are democrats and they believe in the rule of law they should demonstrate it. If they say they want to be leaders they should show the leadership qualities now. You don't send poor people onto the streets and leave them, we don't do that. They are preaching peace, let them demonstrate the peace…don't preach peace and engineer mayhem.”

Story by Isaac Essel