Dear Ghana Youth,
If you have a little time to spare, I’ll like us to discuss a crucial matter. I’ll start with an African proverb I love, which also happens to be, in my opinion, the most relatable to the subject I wish to address:
“When the wood-insect gathers sticks on its own head it carries them”.
War does not suddenly break-out. It is not a natural disaster. It is a deliberately engineered human endeavor-the consequence of a compilation of layers of tension allowed to build over time, coupled with flagrant breaches of law and order that are either willfully ignored or passively allowed to go unchecked. Together these set a volatile tone, allowing war to be triggered at the least provocation.
Although the events that herald war and chaos may sometimes be conspired or even rehearsed, war in itself is not a choreographed event. It is no sport or picnic. It is a traumatic disorder; a brutal waste of time and resources. War is horror and destruction!
War has no profit for those who bleed and die, albeit it could be a heavily rewarding enterprise for those who instigate it and stoke the fires thereof from a safe distance. Yet to ward off external aggression and safeguard a motherland, war, perchance, could prove a useful resort. For it is a noble deed for men to defend their lives, sovereignty and dignity! But I speak of a different kind of war.
I speak of horror, and chaos, and darkness, and gloom! I speak of death, and fire, and the madness that wrecks nations and obliterates cultures. I speak of that kind of war where the ‘warriors’ are, otherwise, brothers and sisters-citizens of the same country, pitched against one another in bloody combat in a blindness occasioned primarily by rage and intolerance.
I speak of the worst kind of war- Political Violence (civil war); a self-inflicted havoc whose wounds are deep, and extremely difficult to heal. I marvel at a great oxymoron, that ‘Civil’ and ‘War’ should belong together!
I have not come as a prophet of doom but as a citizen of conscience. I have come as one who is deeply concerned about the unsightly scenes of politically colored vigilante groups in our body politic and the unnerving rumours of their wantonness. There is no need, at this hour, for a debate about their origin. It profits no one to argue that both government and the leading opposition have them.
Only one thing is necessary: That we disband them NOW! When a deadly serpent enters the inner chamber, it is not wisdom to argue about who left the front door ajar. The task of any sane occupant will be to first kill the serpent, and then have a conversation about securing the doors and windows, going forward.
War drums have begun to beat. It is not very clear who’s beating them, nor why. This is why I must confer with you at once, and remind you that the sacred responsibility to “arise” and defend the motherland was committed to your charge. A charge to keep you have!
I confer with you because you’re young, full of productive energy and flamboyant expectations. Sadly, you have a lot to lose if Ghana goes up in flames (God forbid).
In case you haven’t given it much thought, let me kindly avert your mind to a hypothetical picture of Ghana in flames.
First, those so-called ‘Big Men’ who are adamant to heed the call for peace, and seem hell-bent on plunging the country into darkness, will flee on their diplomatic passports, as soon as the ‘action’ starts! They’ll take up alternative accommodation in their safe havens in Europe and America, and leave you to your fate. Remember also that these safe havens are purchased with taxpayers’ money. In other words, money belonging to you and me.
Where will you go? For me, once I manage to flee the horror in the capital (for I perceive that is where it will begin), my next stop will be my hometown in the Eastern Region. What good will that do me?
Secondly, the ‘vultures’ will descend to feast on the carcass of a dead country. I suppose you know who the Vultures are? They are Imperialist Powers who delight in lawlessness because it allows them uncontested access to plunder and loot.
The United States may lead that assault. Followed by Britain, France, and perhaps this time around, China. They will come in, ostensibly to protect the good people of Ghana, and immediately install a puppet regime to cater to their nefarious objectives. We have copious examples in Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Libya, Venezuela, The Democratic Republic of Congo, and the likes. They will begin with our oil and end only when the land has been stripped bare of natural resources! They’ve done it before, they’ll do it again.
Next will be the total collapse of law and order. I’m not talking about a surge in armed robberies, I’m talking about indiscriminate killings. As for the economy, there’ll be nothing left of it! If you think your life is hard now, picture it in a Ghana that is burning.
For that political party thug who is content to be called a ‘vigilante’, I have yet another African proverb: “The hyena flirts with the hen, the hen is happy, not knowing that her death has come”.
I will not go on. I know you get the picture…
So then, with this picture in mind, let us reason together. What can we do to stem the tide of this gloom prognostication?
We can begin by mounting healthy pressure on Government to act. Without doubt, it is the responsibility of Government to disband unconstitutional groups who pose a threat to national security. It is not a question of dialogue; it is a matter of decisive action by empowering the appropriate law enforcement agencies with the requisite resources, be it financial or legislative, to root out this blemish in our security architecture.
The process does not require combat troops to be air-lifted from one place to the other. Neither does it call for heavy artillery or ammunition. It is a simple excersise of delegated authority! If Government is unwilling or unable to disband ‘mere’ vigilante groups at a time of relative peace and calm, I shudder to think what will become of us the day we face a real external existential threat!
The President has said he’s “… not concerned about the next election, but the next generation”. It is a bold thing to say. At last, providence has provided him a unique opportunity to walk the talk.
The security of the nation cannot and must not be allowed to don partisan colors. It is almost comical to say that the leading Opposition Party must ALSO disband their vigilante groups, as if it were theirs to decide whether or not to disband.
I say it again, the responsibility to enforce the law and protect citizens lies at the door step of Government. No one, Opposition or Government, has any right to countenance the existence of such illegal and dangerous groups for whatever purpose.
A search on Google will reveal Vigilantism as, “law enforcement undertaken without legal authority by a self-appointed group of people”. Right here, is a solid recipe for mayhem and disaster! Make no mistake about it, AZORKA BOYS, HAWKS, DELTA FORCE, INVISIBLE FORCES, and others like them operating illegally, are nothing but a harbinger of doom! We MUST decry their existence at once.
Why is there any need for parallel ‘law enforcement’ groups, and illegal ones for that matter, in a sovereign state with laws and appropriate state institutions?
I will tell you why.
The politician has no confidence in the nation’s security institutions or agencies. Just like he has no confidence in its health care and educational systems. He continues to seek medical attention in America while his children attend choice schools abroad. By the same logic, he feels he must create an ‘Armed Force’ of his own, even if it is in sharp contrast to the provisions of the constitution, before he can heave a sigh of relief. This would have been funny, if it were not so sad!
You may say that maybe I have taken this whole vigilantism matter a notch too far, in making extensions to war.
Really??
I will have you know that coming events cast their shadows before. If this vigilantism saga finally comes to a head (God forbid), you’ll know that I made no exaggerations at all. By all means be loyal to your party, if you belong to one. But remember that your loyalty is first to the nation. If you seem to posses a certain loyalty for your party which is at variance with the interest of the nation, it is no more loyalty. It is treachery!
Do not fall for the trick that disorder may confer some good on you. For you cannot rise if the nation sinks. In war, there is no ideology. This is the time to “arise, Ghana Youth, for your country”.
But if the politician insists we must have war, let us also insist that he and all his relatives and loved ones be present at the front line! He must not shelter any of them in distant havens. If death is a good thing, then we must all partake of it!
Those who have seen war before value peace, even if it is only a fragile one. Political Vigilantism is a recipe for disaster. It is an ominous dark cloud of an advancing peril; a disuniting enzyme in the fabric of peace. If left unchecked, it will be like the rogue ‘pet’ that eventually turned on its master and devoured him.
I have said before elsewhere and I repeat here for your benefit that, “It is all fun and games until our beloved Ghana is up in flames. Let’s not get there!”
A bullet has no conscience, but you do. I hope I have appealed to that conscience. If I have, then you must in good conscience take an unflinching stance against Political Vigilantism.
In the words of Franklin D. Roosevelt, “War is young men dying and old men talking”. Something for you to think about the next time politicians come to recruit you into an illegal group in the name of National Security or whatever.
We are conducting a dangerous ‘experiment’ in allowing all these illegal groups to fester. In the past they assaulted people including those who were thought to be of some renown. In recent times they’ve shot and killed someone. It is not certain what they’ll do next. “If crocodiles eat their own eggs, what would they do to the flesh of a frog?”
I have only come to remind you that the “…nation demands your devotion” as such a time as this. If we persist on this trajectory, we’ll have ourselves to blame. Ghana is not immune to war or chaos. We must DISBAND Vigilantism NOW!!!
I end as I began, “when the wood-insect gathers sticks on its own head it carries them”.
Yours in Patriotic Service,
A. A. Elkington.