A Wake-Up Call

The Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government may be taking a lot of things for granted. Even though the administration may be doing well in some areas, it appears the lapses in the security sector are becoming too many.

One such lapse has to do with the shocking news last Saturday about the early retirement of the Executive Secretary to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Superintendent Peter Lanchene Tuubo, to contest as National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate.

Toobu, who had in recent times been lamenting the level of corruption, both in the police service and in politics, cited mounting pressure from residents of Wa West as the main factor that influenced him to join politics.  He did not cite health reasons, family problems, or any such thing. He only wanted to go do politics.

And even though the move drew a lot of reactions, the cop-turned-politician defended his action by asserting that in life, everyone, including security personnel, has affinity to one political party or the other.

THE NEW PUBLISHER is of the view that the officer, like any adult, sound-minded Ghanaian, has the right to vote and be voted for, and as such, finds his decision to ‘dive’ into party politics not wrong at all.

The paper, however, considers the decision scary, considering his status, years in the service, and the sensitivity of the last position he held.

In our view, it is possible, though not proven, that decisions taken by the IGP on the security of the state and the service in general could have been compromised under his watch.

While it is too early in the day to suspect Superintendent Toobu of anything untoward, we think it is equally not wrong to call for his investigation.

It would be recalled that barely six months ago, Mr. Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, NDC national chairman, was heard on tape inferring that the party had links within the national security apparatus, and insinuated that information was not going to be a problem for the party in the 2020 general elections.

He was further captured saying that one of his informants, a policewoman, had disclosed to him that, in the eyes of the police community, the Inspector-General of Police, David Asante-Apeatu, was ‘a civilian’.

To the best of our knowledge, senior security officers who held sensitive positions and wish to resign are ‘debriefed’ before they are discharged. It is, therefore, our hope that that had been done.

Another related development that popped up last week, was that a major murder suspect like Gregory Afoko, who reported sick and was hospitalized, managed take pictures of himself and get them uploaded on social media.

Three of those pictures of him in handcuffs at the hospital are now all over the place, and the opposition NDC seems to be feeding on them big time.

THE NEW PUBLISHER finds it absurd that the handlers of national security seem to have gone asleep over this matter.

We think somebody in government must have been ‘snoring’ for far too long. It is time to wake up.