Use More Brains And Less Muscles

The New Publisher is particular unhappy about increased media reports on police/military brutalities unleashed on civilians suspected to have fallen foul on the presidential directives on the partial lockdown.

The police and military personnel involved in these acts should be told the truth that they cannot be lawyers and judges in their own courts where they on their own adjudicate a case, pass judgement and meet out corporal punishment in this day and age.

We have seen confirmed video footages of police men flogging adults who they believed have flouted the directive and they have no shame doing same in front of the cameras.

One may argue that the suspected offenders are a stubborn lot and that the only language they understand is violence. We disagree. There are laws in dealing offenders who go lawless.

We are not in a jungle where the fittest survives. Lawlessness cannot be used as an ideal antidote to suspected lawlessness.

What is the sense in unleashing violence against innocent and unarmed civilians, including women, who are not fighting back? Crowd control and issues of security ought to be more of brains than muscles.

Violence begets violence.

Sooner than later, the so-called offenders that are at the receiving end of the continuous brutalities would get fed up and start to fight back. That would lead to total chaos and a nasty situation that is avoidable.

The New Publisher would want to ask that if after the continuous violence and brutalities, the masses still remain recalcitrant, what else would be done to them? Would they be shot at? Come on!!!

We are not in normal times and we cannot generalize every situation and say any person seen on the street, without an ID card is an offender.

If banks, utility service providers and vendors, pharmacies and the entire food value and distribution chain is not on a lock down but are allowed to operate, common sense should inform us that there would be persons on the streets to patronize such services.

We cannot and should not continue to keep mute over the general and free for all unrestrained corporal punishment unleased on innocent and unharmed civilians.

We would not pretend that there are no lawless folks in society. Definitely there are a few idiots out there who would simply disobey the directive for no reason but just for the sake of disobedience.

But even with such category of persons, we insist they should be arrested and put before a court of competent jurisdiction rather than unleash violence on them.

We are in this anti COVID-19 fight together. As the President said, the enemy is COVID-19 and not any other Ghanaian. We should be seen to be united and fighting this virus with a concerted effort rather than a group of security personnel acting in ways that would make them lose the support of the public.

Unrestrained violence cannot be a synonym of law enforcement.