Group Wants Ministry Of State In-Charge Of National Security Scrapped

A flourishing democracy requires the active participation of the citizenry. Without a doubt, the price of a thriving democracy is the eternal vigilance of all and sundry. It is on the strength of these that the Center for Progressive Governance (CenProG) would like to call on President Akuffo Addo to scrap the office of the minister of state in charge of National Security in the face of the condemnable and despicable violence that characterized and marred the Ayawaso West Woguon by-election.

The Office has so far been a waste of our meagre resources and is currently the number one national security threat to the country.

CenProG having observed with disquiet the Minister of State in charge of National Security’s open endorsement of the thuggery and brutality on innocent people is at a loss as to why that office still exists. The continuous stay of the minister in office and the very existence of that office is ample evidence that the Presidency is complicit in the act.

The President of the Republic of Ghana owes it to the citizens to protect their fundamental human rights regardless of which political party they belong to. It is, therefore, necessary that perpetrators of this heinous act are made to face the full rigours of the law and that includes the minister that sanctioned and callously justified the act.

It is not enough for the President to set up a Commission of Inquiry. In any case, the minister was not coerced to accept the responsibility of the actions of these thugs and so a true test of the President’s commitment to getting to the bottom of the matter would be to:

1. SCRAP the office of the Minister of State in Charge of National Security and the activities of the Hon. Bryan Acheampong led office be investigated

2. OPENLY DENOUNCE and DISBAND vigilante groups and not reward them with appointments

The current charade by the Ghana Police Service in the declaration of these thugs as WANTED is seen as the latest in a series of calculated attempts to hoodwink Ghanaians. If these acts are considered a threat to our national security and cohesion then we need not look any further than the minister who sanctioned, supervised, coordinated and justified it. We owe it as Ghanaians the duty to contribute to the peace and stability of the nation. We must therefore not countenance any acts that have the tendency to plunge the country into chaos. The giant strides we have achieved in our democracy must never be sacrificed to suit the selfish whims of any power-hungry politician.

The President ’s loud silence in the face of all these atrocities is worrying enough but even more worrying is the continuous existence of an office that, for all intents and purposes is a national security threat. Mr. President, the time to act is NOW!

Signed

SAWADOGO MAHMOUD

(EXECUTIVE SECRETARY)

MALLAM YAHYA MOHAMMED

(EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)