Taking The Law Into One's Own Hands

The concept of taking the law in to one's own hands to punish a criminal has become the order of the day in most parts of Ghana especially lawless communities. The average Ghanaian will prefer to let go any other offender but lynch a suspected robber or thief rather than allowing a fair trial.

It makes one wonder why people died at the hands of violent mobs in Ghana. When have we ever heard of Ghana police arresting people involved in lynching? The remains of Major Mahama were retrieved by the Ghana Police but no action was taken against the culprits until he was identified. Why is there justice for Major Mahama but not for others? Had Major Mahama been an ordinary citizen, would the public reaction to his death be the same?

The Major is not the first person to have been accused of armed robbery and then subsequently murdered under unjustified grounds. Kindly permit me to share with you some of the causes of lynching or the unjustified grounds why people take the law in their own hands to punish a suspected robber.

The public has lost trust in the security agency simply because when suspects are reported to the police and arrested, they end up in the streets again. These suspects continue to commit more crimes in the community and terrorize the residents. Due to this, the residents find themselves in a very difficult situation deciding whether to hand over suspects to Police or do otherwise when suspects are apprehended. In most instances, mob justice is the only alternative resulting in a normal phenomenon where every arrested suspect has to face execution.

Lost of confidence in the justice delivery system in the country.In between seeking justice and deliverance of justice, there are a lot of prescribed procedures governing proceed­ings of the court as such­­ is becoming time consuming. As the saying goes “Justice delayed is justice denied”, Justice delivered on time to victims is important as it prevents the miscarriage of justice. Justice is difficult to find and varies according to the situations or the persons involved, especially in a country governed by rule of law.

I am not saying that justice should be quick and subsequentlyconcealed, but justice should be rendered on a proper time basis and justice should be clearly done. Most people unfortunately fall victims to injustice due to the time consuming court procedures, this irritates parties involved making them lose interest in court cases. Once it gets to this stage, the witnesses stop attending court hence, suspects are released back to the community.

Lack of Police protection in the communities. Most crime zone communities in Ghana have also lost confidence in the Police to protect them because anytime reports are made to the Police about criminal activities in their area, the police seem to do nothing or little to fight these crimes. Such reports create generalised fear and insecurity in society and force various life style changes. A typical example is the Amanfrom situation where it took the intervention of the Inspector General of Police before security was provided for that community.

Another instance is where residents of Kwahu-Tafo in the Eastern Region, had to appeal for police protection against frequent attacks of some young drug addicts in their town. The then Minister of interior, Mr. Prosper Bani, on the 20^th November, 2016 urged the police to provide maximum security and protection of lives and property. “You must be prepared at all times, plan, analyse and gather intelligence and respond appropriately to any threat to national security to retain the trust of the civilians,” he said. Without protection and confidence in the police, the people cannot volunteer or assist the police with information on criminals’ hide-outs.It is very unfortunate to hear yet another incident of attack on a police station in a year....

Failure of the Police to arrest and prosecute rioters or troublemakers.The lack of Police response to act on lawlessness in the country is also a leading factor of lynching. It is very unfortunate, miscreants attack Police stations at the least provocation and get away with such acts. Here are lists of such acts the Police have failed to react to....

• The burning down of Donkokrom Police Station.
• The vandalisation of Somanya Police Station and vehicle
• The lynching of an army officer
• The recent murder and assassination of several Police officers and the list goes on.

How many more officers, cars and stations need to be destroyed before the Police will wake up from their sleep? If the police can't protect themselves and their properties, then how will they protect the community and everything in it? Should we blame the government, Police service or our community? Does it not break our hearts when the Police do not find peace in their own various stations? The Security service has slept too long.

Late response or intervention by the Police to emergency calls. In Ghana, when such accusation of armed robbery arises, a painful death is certain if the police do not intervene and when they do intervene, in most cases, it is to recover a dead body. Not a day passes without a report about a robbery incident in Ghana. Because of its igneous nature and the traumatic effect, it has on victims, robbery is one of the most dreaded crimes known to mankind resulting to this mob justice. The Police have developed a culture which makes them respond very late to emergency calls.

The average time the Police take to respond or intervene to emergency calls in Ghana is about one hour. A certain lady gave her account on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show in Accra, about three months ago, on how long it took the police to attend to her distress call. The emergency numbers of the police service are no longer useful.

Accumulated anger. In the light of all these unjustifiable reasons coupled with being a victim for example robbery, could lead to an accumulation of anger with the least provocation or suspicion ending up in mob attack. Families are rudely awakening in the dead of the night and robbed at gun point. Women and sometimes young girls are raped or sexually abused and travelers are stopped in the middle of their journeys and their money and wares seized by gun welding facts. And in the midst of these, the Police seem to do nothing or little.

Partakers of mob attack are usually people who have been victims to one crime or the other, where their attackers or criminals go unidentified or released back to communities due to somewhat weak justice system. The best closure to any traumatic experience from criminals is justice: an absence of which leaves its victim with ragewhich is transferred to any suspected criminal who becomes ‘a sacrificial lamb’ that gets burnt to the bone.

Recommendations
Why should we permit lynching to become cancerous in Ghanaian communities? Major Maxwell Adam Mahama and Madam Yednboka Keena were simultaneously lynched on Monday, May 29, 2017 in the southern and northern parts of Ghana respectively. Whenever any disaster befalls the nation, we need to seek a lasting solution to eradicate or prevent further occurrence.

I am not really a security analyst, but with my assessment of events, particularly what is happening in the country right now, to discontinue and eradicate the lynch menace from the Ghanaian communities we need to instill in the citizenry the fear of God. Adopting grassroots sensitisation approaches, modifications of court proceedings and security intervention will not be a bad idea.

Fear of God
People who genuinely have godly wisdom and godly fear cannot spearhead gruesome murders. Godly wisdom will definitely compel leaders and the masses to make wise decisions and to judge/discern wisely. Proverb 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it”. What our leaders/parents do has more influence on the youth than all the political speeches. Ecclesiastes 9:18 “Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good”. Wise people don’t destroy lives and property. Our preachers and ministers of state must lay emphasis on godly wisdom and live a life that is worthy of emulation.

Grassroots Sensitisation Approaches
It is clear from the available evidence that people who usually spearhead and mastermind lynching are at the grass roots who might not have received any formal education. It is mandatory upon our leaders to adopt the grassroots sensitisation approach, such as encouraging assembly members, members of Parliament (MPs) and district chief executives (DCEs) to organise community sensitisation programmes to educate their societies about the lynch menace in the Ghanaian communities. Also, the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), teachers/lecturers and genuine preachers of the Gospel must not surrender in their activities at the grassroots level.

Modifications of Court Proceedings
As a matter of fact, the system of law courts that we inherited from the British rulers has grown of age and needs modification, and these modifications should be made to suit our needs and convenience. The modifications should aim at shortening the period of proceedings of the court, amendment in the rules and regulations governing court proceedings and simplification of the procedures, so that people’s faith in the legal system may not be diminished. Secondly, a time limit should be fixed for the disposal of cases to ensure speedy disposal of cases unless the present system cannot give a desirable performance. The number of courts should be increased to help address the situation of time consumption.

Also there should be a system/unit (like the inspection unit of the Ghana Police service) to check on cases sent to court and update the authority on any development. Most criminals buy their way at the court because there is no system to check cases at the court, but if such system is implemented it would help to curb this rot. Instances of this can be found in the Anas Aremeyaw Anas Judges’ scandal. If most of us are exposing corruption or wrongdoing, it would render it difficult, if not impossible for people to continue committing such crimes since they may not be conscious of who is watching to expose them. Also culprits of such exposé should be put to book to deter others from emulating.

Security intervention
The Police have a crucial role to play in the delivery of early intervention locally and should be committed to putting early intervention at the center of their work. The strong presence of the police in any community helps to substantially reduce crime rate. A typical example is the Amanfrom situation in the central region. The police service needs to change their attitude towards emergencies with early intervention and give special attention to such cases as early intervention helps to prevent an escalation of such distress situations to provide more effective public service. There should be Adequate training for police prosecutors while Investigators need to employ latest technology in investigating cases.

The Charismatic Bishops conference in March 2017 suggested that the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) should be allowed to handle lawless people and armed robbers in Ghana, this will not be a bad plea, without counting out the service of the Ghana Police. The GAF must intervene without delay to stand toe-to-toe with the mob attacks and wipe out the canker. Personnel of the Ghana Police Service have been urged to exhibit a high level of professionalism and dedication in the discharge of their duties to protect the integrity of their profession.

Conclusion
In conclusion, nothing can be changed by Changing the Face but everything can be changed by facing the Change! Mob justice in Ghana has a long history and I wonder how long such atrocities would go on in the country. We need to pay attention to some of the unjustified grounds why someone has to be murdered again by a growling mob in such a brutal manner. We talk so much but accomplish so little. I leave you with the words of Martin Luther, ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere’.

BAYOR, Cephas Kanyiri [Bayor-Good]
Tel: +233 245 001 658