Crime Has No Political Colour: Prosecute Them

The chorus 'crime has no political colour' is not new to public discourses in the country. Many revered citizens have frowned on the subtle trend, and rightly so, which constitutes one of the challenges confronting us.

We are glad that since the vigilante menace found space on the front burner, many are joining in the national conversation in varied forms and we expect it to continue.

The rule of law must be given impetus through the eradication of the negative trend of politicizing crimes as a means of rendering them cold or moribund cases.

Ghana must not remain static, stuck in the antiquated ways which do not inure to the interest of our progress. We cannot point at a politician facing the full rigours of the law in matters bordering on their breaches of our statutes.

Our President has a zero tolerance for the politicization of crime. This gives us hope that the dictum 'crime has no political colours' would be given the necessary impetus for the survivability of the rule of law.

It is only when the law enforcement agency responsible for investigating crimes and bringing same before the court of law is not interfered with and allowed to work professionally, shall we be making an appreciable headway in this direction.

Now that criminal shootings were committed in Kumasi recently, we expect that the Police would enjoy the utmost independence they were not used to under the previous government to go the full hog in investigating the case.

There is no option to the foregone if our commitment to allow the law to take its full course in all cases is not to be doubted.

Civilisation is not measured by the skyscrapers and other modern facilities existing within the confines of a country but by the quality of rule of law prevalent within it.

It is not for nothing therefore that investors consider the quality of the rule of law as a prime factor before pitching camp in a given country. A country where law enforcement agents and the courts are unable to discharge their duties without looking over their shoulders will not attract investors.

It is against this backdrop that we expect the law enforcement agency to expedite action on the Kumasi shooting without fear or favour because things have, of course, changed. When the verdict is eventually given, nobody should attempt the usual politicization of the subject.

When former President Jerry John Rawlings said persons with criminal baggage are predisposed to seeking executive positions in political parties as a means of running away from the law, this was what he meant. Such persons as soon as the law was going to catch up with them cry 'political victimisaiton or witch-hunting' as a veneer.

Another test case is the ongoing Ayawaso West Wuogon constituency bye-election enquiry which at the end of the day should isolate all who committed crimes to face the law. That is how to nurture and grow a country. Ghana demands a paradigm shift.